


The Stitched AU

by CrystalNinjaPhoenix



Category: jacksepticeye
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, the comfort comes later but i promise it exists
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:08:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 107,851
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25212190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrystalNinjaPhoenix/pseuds/CrystalNinjaPhoenix
Summary: After a strange, tragic event seemed to kill their friends Marvin and Jackie, Chase, Jack, and Schneep find themselves haunted by a strange being called Anti. Joined by a man named JJ who has knowledge of magic, they try to discover the truth of Anti, and are surprised to find him connected to Jackie and Marvin. But how deep do these connections go? And is the group willing to brave so much pain and tragedy for friends who might not ever come back?
Relationships: Chase & JJ, Jack & Chase, Jackie & Marvin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	1. Stitched Together

**Author's Note:**

> The concept for this AU was inspired by a post by septic-dr-schneep on Tumblr, where she spitballed the idea of Anti somehow being made of Jackie and Marvin. I took the concept and ran with it lol, and this is the result

The city was peaceful from this high up. The lights below seemed to float in the darkness, a bit like boats bobbing in the water. A half moon dangled high above. It kept watch over the sleeping citizens, much like the man in the red jumpsuit sitting on the roof.

Jackieboy was tired. But it was the content, satisfied kind of tired that came after a job well done. There’d been a series of muggings recently. The perpetrator forced citizens at knife point to hand over all their valuables before stabbing them and fleeing. Luckily, Jackie had managed to catch the criminal before anybody died. He’d left the man off at the police station with a note explaining everything. The cops would know what to do; they’d been receiving similar drop-offs for a couple months now.

The hero stood up and stretched. It was late, and he should at least try to get some sleep. He jumped off the roof onto a fire escape, then climbed down and made his way toward the apartment he shared with his roommate, Marvin.

* * *

There was a warm yellow light coming from the apartment’s window, shining through the drawn curtains. Jackie sighed. He really should’ve expected this. He leaned forward and knocked on the glass. There was a startled crash, then footsteps, and the window was thrown open. Jackie climbed through and came face to face with Marvin. His cat mask was hanging around his neck and his hair was a mess. “Can’t you come in the fucking door like a normal person?” he asked, exasperated.

“Not unless I want Stephanie at the front desk thinking ‘hmm, that guy didn’t leave through the door, how’d he get out? What does he have to hide?’” Jackie looked around. The apartment was still messy, just like it had been when he left earlier that night. Dirty clothes on the couch and floor, unwashed dishes on the coffee and end tables. Marvin’s laptop was open on the desk in the corner. Jackie glanced over at it. “What’re you looking at?”

Marvin moved between Jackie and the laptop. “Nothing. Spells.” 

Ah, yes. Marvin’s little hobby of trying out magic. He’d started with the conventional, slight of hand kind, but somehow he’d stumbled upon websites that instructed people in wizardry and witchcraft, like Harry Potter. Jackie didn’t think it would work, but it made Marvin happy, and also it would be really cool if it did work, so whatever.

“Anything exciting happen tonight?” Marvin asked, clearly trying to distract Jackie from the laptop.

“I finally caught that mugger,” Jackie said. “You?”

“Maybe. I need to look at it a bit more,” he replied in his annoyingly vague way.

“Well, Imma go to bed now. You should too, sometime.” The hero pulled off his mask, and disappeared through the door to his room. “Goodnight,” he called.

“Night, dude.” Marvin stood stock-still. The muffled sounds of Jackie getting ready for bed could be heard through the thin walls. Once they faded, he burst into movement, quickly walking back to the desk and sitting down, staring once more at the site open on the computer screen.

He knew Jackie, with his righteous morals and heroism, wouldn’t approve of what he was looking at. Even if he didn’t believe in magic, the fact that his roommate would be searching for spells like this would probably set off some alarm bells in his head. Marvin remembered also being hesitant when he found the first website cataloging this type of magic. But…wasn’t it just fascinating? The things people could do with a few incantations or a couple specific tools? And if somebody came after him, somebody who was a real threat, wouldn’t it be better if he could fight them off? Jackie acquired a lot of enemies in his line of work. Marvin had to be prepared for the day when they came after the two of them.

Or at least, that was what he told himself. That was how he justified the thrill he felt whenever he perfected one of these spells. That was how he explained the dreams of using his talents to become world famous, and showing all the competition, whatever it takes. That was why Marvin hadn’t told Jackie yet. Somehow, he couldn’t shake the thought that the hero would call him out on these feelings even he denied.

* * *

Two weeks later, Jackie sprinted through the streets of the city, furious. The charges against the mugger had been dropped. The dude had one hell of a lawyer, and somehow he got off without even community service. How?! There were several witnesses who would testify against him! Also, several victims with stab wounds! And somehow, they’d let him go without even a trial to give the damning evidence a chance to shine.

And what do you know? Jackie turned a corner to see a young woman being pulled into an alleyway by the mugger. She was kicking and screaming, but he had a knife and she didn’t. Jackie growled, and put on a burst of speed.

“I don’t have any money!” The woman pleaded.

“You have those nice earrings, dont’cha?” The mugger rasped. Jackie could see his blade gleaming in the light that dribbled into the alley from the lamps on the street beyond. His vision went red with rage.

The mugger didn’t even get the common courtesy of being told he was about to get his ass kicked. Jackie just rushed forward and tackled him. “GO!” he shouted at the young woman, who didn’t hesitate to follow his advice.

“You again?!” The mugger growled. “Didn’ you get the point last time?” He tried to stab, but Jackie dodged. The knife still grazed him, drawing a thin line of pain across his face. Too furious to feel it, Jackie hit the mugger with all his strength, knocking the man’s head backwards. He followed it up with a knee to the gut, then wrenched the knife out of the mugger’s hand when he was down.

“Not so tough without this, huh?!” Jackie waved the blade in his face. Another few punches, and the mugger fell to ground. “I’m tired of doing this shit over and over! Running in fucking circles!” He stomped on the mugger’s face with a satisfying crunch. Gave him a few more kicks for good measure. “Count yourself lucky I have other places to be!” He gave the mugger an adrenaline-fueled grin, then turned on his heel and stomped away.

It took him a few minutes to realize he was still holding the knife. When he did, he dropped it in shock. Had he really….had he really just done that?

A wave of nausea rolled over the hero. He hadn’t…hadn’t _wanted_ to go after the mugger with such a vengeance. He’d just been so—so angry. It seemed for every criminal he put away, ten more would spring up. He just wanted the city to be safe, yet there were people always keeping that from him! Couldn’t they just give it a rest? Couldn’t they just leave him alone?

Jackie didn’t want to take the knife again, but he also didn’t want it out on the street for anyone to grab and use to stab yet more people. So he leaned over and picked it up, before making his way home.

* * *

“It’s just so annoying,” Jackie griped the next day. He and Marvin were out on the town, running errands. Jackie needed some red cloth to repair his suit and some materials to make it more bulletproof, and Marvin…Marvin was doing his vague thing again, just saying he needed stuff to try out a spell.

“I think I’m finally understanding what Captain America feels like when he goes up against HYDRA,” Jackie sighed. “Cut off one head, two more takes it place. I’ve never heard anything more true.”

“Maybe if you were a bit harsher, people would be too scared to commit crimes.” Marvin said it in a nonchalant tone, but Jackie glared at him. Any other day he would’ve gone off on a rant about how he had lines he wouldn’t cross, and if he did it would make him just as bad as them…but today he still had the mugger’s knife, wrapped in a cloth in his hoodie pocket. He hadn’t felt right leaving it in the apartment. He didn’t know why.

“Maybe if I had actual powers, the threat of me would do that same thing.” Jackie rolled his eyes.

“Um, would you like to have actual powers?” Marvin hesitated to bring it up, but…there was a chance he could help a friend out here.

“That’s like asking a dog if he wants a bone,” Jackie said. “Duh.”

“Well, you know that spell I was looking at a few weeks ago?” Marvin asked tentatively. “If it works, there’s a chance we could both get cool magic abilities that are a lot like superpowers.”

“ _If,_ ” Jackie repeated. But Marvin could tell he was interested by the way he kept glancing at the magician whenever he thought he wasn’t looking. A few minutes passed in silence before Jackie finally said, “So…how would that work?”

“There’s a ceremony,” Marvin explained. “I need some materials, and it needs to take place on a new moon, which is tomorrow night. Then I say some magic words, and hey presto, we got powers!”

Jackie considered. There _was_ a rise in crime recently. And it _would_ be helpful to, say, fly or lift cars. Not to mention awesome. So… “What d’you need?”

* * *

It felt odd to be awake at night and not be out on patrol. Jackie couldn’t help but glance toward the window every so often. The city outside seemed unchanged. But the same couldn’t be said for the inside of the apartment. All the furniture had been pushed to the edge of the wall, and there was a circle drawn on the floor in ash. Five black candles stood vigil around the perimeter, alight. Jackie couldn’t help but fiddle with the amulet he was wearing. Marvin had made it, and an identical one for himself.

Jackie still had the knife in his pocket.

The magician was flipping through loose pieces of paper, on which he’d written some nonsense-looking words. He glanced at his watch. “Alright, midnight is in two minutes. Get in the circle.”

Jackie swallowed nervously and hesitated for a moment before he did so. Marvin mirrored his movements, carefully stepping over the line of ash so he wouldn’t mess it up. He breathed in shakily. “Okay, here we go.”

Marvin started chanting the words he’d written on the paper. For a minute, Jackie felt stupid standing in the middle of a circle wearing a homemade necklace. But then said necklace began getting warm…and then getting hot. And then getting _really_ hot. Luckily Marvin had warned him about his, or he might’ve yelled and teared off the amulet. Still, he gritted his teeth and fought against the urge to fling it away.

Purple smoke ran across the floor of the room like an early-morning mist. The candle flames flickered, then flared, then turned a sickly green. The warmth from the amulet was spreading through Jackie’s chest, and when he looked down he saw it was glowing the same green color. Marvin’s was too.

“Ot illia enki perr…” Marvin was chanting. “un’u pro un’a, porivike…”

Marvin hadn’t given a lot of details about this part. He’d dropped clues, saying that the two of them should begin to feel the change. But instead of feeling the power he’d been promised, Jackie was starting to feel faint. His head was swimming, and he was swaying, trying hard to stay on his feet. “Marvin…” he whispered.

The magician didn’t answer. “Ita kqu e robahamunr, nis nisr tris…”

“Marvin!” Jackie stumbled forward. “This is wrong!”

The alarm on Marvin’s watch went off, beeping in an annoying fashion. The green flames of the candles flared again, reaching halfway to the ceiling. The purple fog thickened, up to their waists. Marvin looked at his friend, apprehensive…and a little sad. “This is supposed to happen, Jackie,” he said quietly. “It’s an exchange of power.”

Jackie was struck with a sudden realization. “So you’re—you’re stealing my—my energy?!” He felt the fury and red-hot anger, once again rising.

“No, I’d never do that,” Marvin shook his head vehemently. The fog was swirling around them. “I’m giving you something of mine in exchange. I get your stamina, you get my mental prowess, along those lines. Then they’re enhanced. We’ll get our powers.”

“You didn’t tell me,” Jackie balled his hands into fists. “You—this is _betrayal_.”

“Jackie, please, you never would’ve agreed,” Marvin pleaded. The flames had parted from the candles, joining the fog in spinning around the two.

“ _Damn right I wouldn’t’ve!_ ” Jackie yelled. “You think I’m gonna let you take some part of me?! Huh?! Even if I get something, I’m not gonna be _me,_ Marvin! I’m not gonna be the hero anymore!” Without warning, he lunged forward, toward the man he thought was his friend.

Marvin dodged, staying inside the circle. “Jackie, no!” he gasped. “We’re in the middle of the spell. If we interrupt it, _everything_ could go wrong!”

“ _I don’t care!_ ” Jackie roared. “It can’t get any worse!”

Another lunge forward, this time coupled with a swinging fist. It hit Marvin squarely in the jaw, and he stumbled backward. Jackie went in for another hit. Marvin raised his arms and defended himself just in time. But he couldn’t fight back against Jackie’s relentless onslaught. All he did was block, as the magic of the spell whirled faster and faster, encasing the two in a bubble of purple and green.

Then, Marvin let his guard down for less than a second, and Jackie knocked him to the floor. Marvin’s head _hit_ the edge of the magic bubble with a painful crack. While he was dazed, Jackie pinned him with one hand. With the other, he reached into the pocket of his hoodie and withdrew the knife, freed from the cloth it had been wrapped in.

Marvin’s eyes widened. “Jackie, what are you doing?”

“Stop the spell,” Jackie commanded. “Or I swear to god—” he lowered the knife to Marvin’s neck with a nasty grin “—I’ll do it.”

“I-I can’t,” Marvin whispered.

“Can’t or don’t want to?” Jackie asked in an equally low voice.

Marvin hesitated. He knew what he wanted to answer…but he couldn’t. Because both were true. “Can’t you feel it?” he said instead. “The spell is doing its work. It’s gonna happen no matter what.”

Jackie could feel it. The magic was sapping away his strength, the amulet at his neck was spreading its pulsing, electric warmth through his body. It terrified him. He didn’t want to lose himself. But he didn’t want to kill his friend either, despite his threat…he didn’t….did he?

His eyes were drawn to the identical amulet around Marvin’s neck. That had to be an important bit to the spell. The string looked like it would be easy to cut. Jackie steeled his nerves, then adjusted the knife. The string was on the blade, all it needed was one swift stroke.

“Jackie, no…” Marvin rasped. “I-I want to help you. This helps us both. Let me do it.” It wasn’t wrong. But it wasn’t right enough.

Jackie looked him square in the eyes. He smiled. “Say goodbye to your dreams of power, Marv.” And with one swift, wild motion, he cut.

“ _No!_ ” Marvin moved suddenly. It wasn’t too much, but with Jackie’s too-wide swing, it was enough. The knife came away bloodied.

Horrified, Jackie stared at it. Marvin made a horrible choking noise, and Jackie turned his attention to him…and the red smile across his neck. “I didn’t…” The “hero” couldn’t get the words out. Because, of course, he did.

The magic around them froze. It wanted to keep the spell going, it wanted to keep moving, but it couldn’t with one of the participants dead. Parts of it kept trying to swirl, parts of it stayed in place, parts of it started going in the other direction. The whole thing produced a terrible, shrieking, ear-splitting whine, not unlike that of electronics. The purple darkened to red, even black in some places. The green flames grew brighter.

Jackie looked up at the terrible, breaking, _glitching_ magic. He felt…strange. The spell kept trying to take him apart. It was like his soul wasn’t fully rooted in his body. The magic bubble was shrinking, growing closer. He didn’t care. He closed his eyes, and as the magic collapsed, he dissolved into pixels.

* * *

Schneeplestein was a doctor, not a mortician, for god’s sake. But somehow, all the actual ones weren’t in, either sick or on vacation somewhere. So here he was, making his way down to the morgue where a pair of police officers waited with a pair of bodies who’d apparently died in the most unusual way.

“Yes, yes, officer, I am aware of what is required of me, but I need the bodies to see what is wrong,” he brushed away the cop’s pretentious instructions. “So if you will please let me through so that I can go to…work…”

He knew these faces. Not just because they were so similar to his own. But they were his friends. He shook his head mutely at the two laying side by side. They seemed…emptier, somehow, than the other bodies he’d seen. Was that because he knew them so well in life? Why was a chill running along his spine?

The police filled him in. A neighbor had called the police about the noise, which she described as “yelling, threats, and violent banging.” The cops had checked it out, expecting to find roommates just shouting at each other. Instead, they’d found two bodies in the middle of some sort of black magic circle. One had his throat slit, while the other held the knife. That one was dead too, but they couldn’t figure out what had killed him.

Schneeplestein left. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t preform an autopsy on his friends. He had to tell Jack and Chase what happened. They’d be devastated, but it would hurt less coming from a friend.

He had the strangest feeling that someone—or some _ones_ —was watching him as he walked out the hospital door.

He could hear whispers. _Take it back,_ they were saying. _Take back what was taken from you. It’s ours. It’s m̵̕ine._

_No more sharing. No more helping. No more caring. No more w̷e̵a͝kn̡e̶͝ss̴..  
_

_M̩̠̮̬̦̜̗̕i̝͟n̻̖̰͎e̩̫͎̤͔̱̠͝ a̷̬͎̘͟͠l̞̜̹̥̮͍̥o͖̙̗̲͖̱͎̼n̷̡̞̱̣͉ȩ̷̪͔̤̜̼̪̞̤ ._

But that was ridiculous.

Right?


	2. The Start of the Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a strange, tragic event seemed to kill their friends Marvin and Jackie, Chase, Jack, and Schneep find themselves haunted by a strange being called Anti. Joined by a man named JJ who has knowledge of magic, they try to discover the truth of Anti, and are surprised to find him connected to Jackie and Marvin.

“You are lucky to not be dead.”

Jack couldn’t help but poke at the wound on his neck. He winced. “I’m lucky I know the best doctor in the world,” he said quietly. He didn’t want to tear the stitches.

Schneep huffed, but couldn’t hold back a smile. “Well, yes, I am a qualified doctor. But that is no reason for you to play with knives.”

“It was Halloween, bro.” Chase piped up for the first time since his arrival. He was leaning against the doorway of the hospital room, trying his best to look casual when he’d just been hovering nervously by Jack seconds before. “Pumpkin carving is a tradition, you know. How was he supposed to know he’d cut himself?”

Jack shifted uncomfortably on the hospital bed. For a moment, he wondered if he should just stay silent. But honesty was always the best policy. If what happened was real, then they had a serious threat to deal with. If it wasn’t, then they could figure out why the hell he was seeing things. “Well, actually, guys…I didn’t exactly do it myself.”

Immediately, Schneep and Chase jumped to attention. “Why? What happened?” “Should we call the police?”

“No, I…you guys are gonna think I’m crazy,” Jack sighed.

“No way, dude.” Chase shook his head. “We’d never think that.”

“I—you haven’t even heard what it is.” Jack muttered. “Okay, here goes…so, like, for a couple weeks now, I’ve had a feeling like something is watching me. But not at times when that would make sense, I mean all the time. And sometimes I’d see things out of the corner of my eye, or hear whispers that aren’t there.”

“Jack, I do not think I am the right kind of doctor for these problems,” Schneep said, half-joking.

“No, no, let me finish. So, sometimes I’d get nosebleeds out of nowhere, and sometimes I started, like, walking down to the shop or something but then a split second later I’d be back home, like there was a—a glitch in the fabric of reality. And I’d start laughing or hearing laughter for no reason.”

“Okay…so what does that have to do with this business?” Chase asked.

“So, I was doing the video, just like normal, and I’d keep hearing noises. When I went to check them out, nothing. I got another nosebleed, heard more laughing, and just…it just seemed like everything that was happening that month got dialed up to eleven. And then, after I got the pumpkin all finished and was about to do some fine cleaning…I just—I fucking have no idea how to describe it. My arm was moving on its own and it was like—it was like there was someone else in my head, like…squeezing it. And this thing was controlling my arm and it—it did the thing.”

Silence. Jack tried not to squirm as his two friends exchanged glances. They looked worried. “Jack…what I said before was joke, but I really think you should talk to a different doctor,” Schneep suggested haltingly.

“You haven’t even heard the weirdest part.” Jack shook his head. “It—he talked to me. He called me weak…and…” He swallowed nervously. He didn’t really want to talk about the things he said after he cut his throat and used his body like a puppet. So he skipped to the most important part. “Anyway, after he left, or retreated, or whatever, I _saw_ him. And he looked a lot like me, but…wearing different clothes. He looked like a living computer glitch.”

“You sure you weren’t just…hallucinating?” Chase asked. “I mean, you’d lost a lot of blood by the time I came to check on you.”

“I know, I know, it’s a real possibility. But the weirdest thing was his neck. It was—was also cut open, but it was stitched close. With green string. But it wasn’t doing a very good job at keeping the wound closed, and the stitches were pulling apart…and I got the _strangest_ feeling I knew him.”

Schneep walked over to the counter nearby and grabbed a pen and pad of paper. He wrote down something real quick, then came back and handed it to Jack. “I think you should check out Dr. Laurens. She is very good. Not to say you have to, but I think it would help.”

“Wait, doc, hang on a second.” Chase frowned thoughtfully. “I think…maybe…”

Schneep glared at him. “Chase, do not encourage him,” he said through gritted teeth, trying to keep Jack from hearing. “I know you are wanting to help but it will not to do this.”

“All I’m saying is—I mean—I’m wondering—” Chase stopped, gathering his thoughts. “So, I know you remember what happened a little under a year ago. I do too.”

The doctor’s expression immediately darkened. Nobody needed a reminder of what happened to Marvin and Jackie. It was bad enough that the double murder—or possibly murder-suicide, nobody could agree—got an unholy amount of media attention, given that no one could figure out what actually happened. One had a slit throat, the other held the knife, both were dead but only one was injured, and they were inside a circle drawn on the floor like some sort of ritual. How and why did they even die? And then the police found Jackie’s super suit hidden in the closet and all sorts of shady websites on Marvin’s computer. That only made things more complicated.

“Well, it can’t be a coincidence that the same kind of cut appeared on Jack nearly a year later,” Chase pointed out. “And they were probably doing some kind of magic, right? Maybe black magic? Doesn’t what Jack said sound like he got attacked by a black magic demon or something?”

Jack smiled. He hadn’t really thought of the possibility that what happened to Marvin and Jackie could be connected to the thing that attacked him, but it was nice to know that Chase thought there was an explanation besides him being crazy. Schneep, on the other hand, looked doubtful. “I do not mean to speak ill of the dead, but Marvin believed in things that could not exist. If he dragged Jackie into his shit, then that was between them. But it had nothing to do with their deaths.”

“You don’t know that,” Chase snapped. “Maybe there was some sort of sacrifice or something, and things went wrong.”

“For god’s sake, do you really think _Jackie_ would be part of black magic?” Schneep threw his hands up in the air. “Have you ever heard anyone speak out against evil more than him?”

“I mean…the dark side can be tempting, bro,” Chase mumbled.

“I am not being part of this. I am leaving, I have other patients to check on. Jack, please at least try to visit Dr. Laurens. She can help more that mindless speculation.” Schneep stuck around long enough to see Jack nod in agreement, then quickly left.

“Jack…you think that…” Chase hesitated, then said the next few words in a rush. “D’you think that if we find out more about what attacked you we could find out what happened to them?”

Jack hesitated. There was a bit of desperation shining in Chase’s eyes. No, actually, there was a lot. Jack couldn’t blame him. A lot of terrible shit had hit Chase at that moment in time, shit that led to…well, it made sense that he wanted his friends back. Jack did too. But also, he just really wanted to know what the deal with this thing was. Why was he targeting them? “I mean, maybe,” Jack shrugged. “It’s worth a shot. And if there’s really a demon out there, we need to protect ourselves. But how do we do that?”

* * *

The next day, Chase and Jack found themselves standing outside a little shop on the edge of town. The window showed a display made of books, amulets, and hanging talismans. The sign identified the shop as “Jackson Magick Emporium.”

“So, this place is, like, legit, right?” Chase asked.

Jack pulled on the bandages around his neck. “I mean, as much as one of these places can be. The website seemed to know what they were talking about, and there were good reviews from people who weren’t nutters. So…let’s go in.”

A bell ding-a-linged to announce their arrival into the shop. Chase blinked. “Good god, did we just step back in time or something?” The front room of the shop looked a lot like a living room from the early twentieth century, but with the addition of a counter with a cash register and price tags on the various knickknacks scattered on the tables. It was a pleasant place, pastel blue in color and well-lit with yellow lamps. But nobody was there.

“They head the bell, right?” Jack wondered, glancing over at the little silver instrument hanging by the door.

“Don’t see how they could’nt’ve.” Chase wandered over to one of the tables and picked up the leather-bound book on its surface. He turned it over in his hands. It _did_ look like something Marvin would’ve had. This must be the right sort of place.

“I’d advise you to put that down.”

Chase jumped, looking around for the source of the voice. A well-dressed man in a blue vest and black hat was coming out of a door behind the counter. He…weirdly enough, he looked pretty similar to Jack and Chase, just with a mustache. Did Jack have some sort of doppelganger magnet attached to him?

“Sorry,” Chase mumbled, putting the book back.

“Quite alright. You had no idea. But I must warn you that it’s very old and fragile.” The man walked around the counter and approached the two. He gave a friendly smile and stuck out his hand. “My name is Jameson Jackson, but you may call me JJ if you like. Welcome to my shop. How may I help you?”

Jack shook his hand. “Hello. I’m Jack and this is my friend Chase. We, uh…” He looked over to Chase for support, but he just shrugged. “So I went onto your website and saw that you did a thing where you could get rid of, like…evil spirits and shit.”

“Well, I wouldn’t use that type of language,” JJ frowned. “But yes, that is correct.”

“Okay, so, you see…I mean it’s been happening for a while, but last night it really…really, um…” Jack fidgeted with the bandages again. “So, I’m not wearing these for fun. You see what I’m talking about?”

JJ’s brows furrowed. “Yes, I think I’m getting the gist of it. Why don’t we go into the other room? I can make us some tea and you can tell me everything, at your own pace of course.”

The other room looked pretty much the same, but red instead of blue and no items for sale. The main piece of furniture was a table and chairs in the center, but there were a few drawers and chests along the edge for holding things, along with a small stove. Jack and Chase sat down and spilled out the whole story, starting with Marvin and Jackie’s mysterious _incident_ last year, and ending with Jack’s account of this thing taking control of his body and seeing it afterward. By the time their tale had ended, the tea was long finished. JJ set a cup in front of each of them, then joined them at the table. He leaned forward and rested his head on his hands.

“So, do you have any idea what your friends were actually messing about with?” he asked in a quiet voice, as if afraid someone would overhear.

Jack shook his head. “No, sorry.”

“They were in a circle?”

“Yeah, with candles around the edges. Is that…is that helpful?”

“Not very, unfortunately. Most spells—or at least, most heavy-duty spells—take place in a protective circle. It’s meant to protect the casters from outside dangers and keep any misfires contained inside. Do you remember anything else? Did they discover any spellbooks or charms?”

“I don’t remem—”

Chase interrupted. “Wait, I think…I think there was some weird things. A bunch of burned paper, and…and there were two weird necklaces, but…I dunno about those ones.”

“Explain.”

“Well, Schneep—he’s a friend of ours, a doctor—showed me the police report of the crime scene. They were both wearing them, and they were when he saw the bodies, but later, when he asked the cops about where those necklaces went, they swore there weren’t any.”

“Hmm…” JJ took a sip of the tea, thoughtful. “Disappearing amulets…that is unusual. Depending on their purpose, we could guess at the spell they were trying. Hang on.” He stood up, walked over to a chest and rummaged it, then came back with a book with a red cover. He opened it, revealing that the book had been patched together with pages tied into the lining, like an old-fashioned kind of binder. They were covered with ink drawings of various amulets, with explanations of what each did. “Did your friend happen to describe them?”

“Uhhh…” Chase cast a line back into the waters of memory. “This is a recall of a recall of a glance, so don’t take this too seriously. But they were white…a bit teardrop-shaped.”

“Wait wait wait I saw those!” Jack nearly knocked over his teacup in excitement. “He was wearing them! They had these weird designs on them, and they were glowing green.”

JJ slid the book toward him. “Do you think you could identify them?”

“Maybe…I didn’t really see them that good.” Jack started flipping through the pages, then suddenly stopped. He looked around. “It’s happening again…” he muttered. “I feel like someone’s watching us…”

Chase, confused, said “What?” But JJ didn’t hesitate, shooting to his feet and dashing to the drawers, pulling them open and glancing at the contents before slamming them shut again.

“What are you looking for?” Jack asked, nervous.

“Either protection or the source of that feeling,” Jameson explained. “If you can, help me look.”

“We don’t know—oh, alright.” Jack didn’t want a repeat of Halloween night. He stood up, pulled Chase upward too, and ran toward the drawers. He figured he’d know if something was important. The drawers were filled with books and loose papers with strange writing, crude dolls with paint on them, amulets and other magickal jewelry, and so many other talismans that Jack couldn’t identify. Nothing stood out.

Until Jack heard a sudden shriek.

His head whipped around, and he saw Chase standing in front of an open drawer with a look of absolute shock and horror on his face. He held something in his hand, a pair of teardrop-shaped amulets dangling from strings. They glowed green, but the glow couldn’t mask the cracks that marred their surfaces.

“Chase! Drop it!” Jameson yelled.

Startled, Chase did exactly that. The amulets clattered to the surface. There was a sound, a sound in the back of their minds that seemed to be coming from the broken talismans. It was a high whine, punctuated with electronic-sounding crackling. Or was it laughing?

“How’d they get there?” Chase asked, breathless.

“They came with him,” Jack muttered.

It was definitely laughter. Then Jack heard, directly in his ear, “I’m so p̶ro̡u̡d, J̷ąck͝ie̴bo̢y.”

With a yelp, Jack whirled around, but nobody was there. Chase and Jameson, who’d apparently also heard something similar, were looking around wildly as well. The room seemed darker. The whine was growing louder.

“Where are you?” Jameson asked. “Show yourself!”

A giggle. “You’d lik̵e̵ that, wou̡l͞dn̕'͢t͝ yo͢u҉? A neat little ta͡r̴g̨et to throw your s͠p̛e͞l̡ls̶ at? Oh wait, I f͝or͠g̕o̶t, you don’t a̦̝̤̱̥c̗̭͝t̮̤̭̝u͈̭͓̰͈a̦ḻl̩̦͈y̠͟ have any m͏ag̢ic̢..” The voice bounced around the room, seeming to come from the corner one moment and the center the next.

“There’s more than one way to skin a cat,” Jameson said.

“Oh, I̢̕ ̨͏k͏n̸̕o͠w̸͠.” He sounded amused now.

“What are you?” Jack cried.

“Can’t you t̶e͟ll? I’m y̕͢o̢͞͠u̷̶ , of course, J̮̪̘̯͝a̵̟̣̻ͅc̨̘̬͓͖̭̞̳̲̟k̛̼̣̝̞̹̹͍̬i̖̞̭͝e͏͓͢b̷̨̫̗̗̕o̤͔̝͖y̖͕̣.”

“N-no…” Jack whispered. “No, you’re not. If anything, you’re the anti-me.”

“ Ą̴n͢͠t͞i̶..oh, I l͟i̸̛ke̵ that. V͠e̡r̵y̛ m҉uch͝.”

“Great, you just named it,” Chase grumbled. Jack noticed his hands were shaking, and his eyes were darting everywhere.

He—Anti—laughed again, and the lights flickered at the same time. Jack felt the feeling of being watched lighten up, and the white noise seemed to shift…to Chase. “ Y̕o͞u’re putting on sųch͢ a b̷͝r̴͞av̧e fa͏͝c̶͢e, but I can taste the f̛e̵̷a҉̨r̶͝ i͝n͡ y̢o̕ur m͏̕͟i͟͠n͞d̷̸̶. It’s dȩ̴l̛ic̶i͠o͡u̡s̸͢.”

The flickering intensified. Jack’s eyes widened as Chase’s shadow shifted, contorted, then stepped away from the wall. “Chase, watch out!” Jack yelled. He started to run toward him, and Chase himself tried to turn around, but it was too late. Anti was real, and he was holding a knife to Chase’s throat.

Jack froze in place.

“ G̨ood i̢ḑea, J̷̶a̧ck͏̷i̛e̕.” Anti bared his teeth in what would’ve been a smile on anyone else, but on him it could only be seen as a threat. He did indeed look a lot like Jack, but his form was spazzing out and glitching at every moment, coming apart in pixels. The upper half of his face was hidden in shadows that twisted and writhed, strands of green light trying to form a symbol on the center of his forehead. The wound on his neck wasn’t just a cut, but a wide gash weeping blood. Green stitches were trying to keep it closed.

“What do you want?” Jack whispered.

“What do I w̶̡a͡n̵̴t̸̸?” Anti repeated the question, tilting his head like a predator sizing up its prey. “First, I want to see if y͡ou̴r f̢r҉iend he͠r̶e̡ b̵̶le̷e̢d̴̡s͟͠ like you, if your faces are t͢he ͝s̶a̡m̡e. Then…well, you͠'l̷l ͡soon fin͢d ͢o̧u̢t̵. I wouldn’t want to s̴po͠į͟l _e̦̼v̖̫̱̰͇e͏̰r̤̜͝y̪̼͖̙̙̕t̥h̪͎̙̱i̖n̦̻̭̹͈̼̮͝g͢_ for you.”

Chase’s eyes were wide, and he held perfectly still. The knife was glitching ever so slightly. As Jack watched, it nicked Chase’s neck and a single drop of blood trickled down his throat. Jack sucked in an panicked breath. What could he do? Was there anything he could do?

Suddenly, Anti’s smile dropped. His head snapped—quite literally, the sound accompanied by a shattering of pixels—toward Jameson. Jack realized that he’d been awfully quiet during the whole confrontation. And it was because he was preparing. Several drawers were hanging open. There was a tall blue candle burning on the table, surrounded by strange symbols written in red chalk. Jameson held a golden amulet out in front of him, a golden square with a purple gem in the center. It was emitting a faint white light. He grinned triumphantly. “What were you saying about magic?”

Anti growled. “ F̵̮͎̠̭̮̯͇͟i̛͓̦̠͖͈̥̹̞̕n͎̰̠̙̻͟e͖̱̼̬. I’ll l̶͟e͠t ̛͝yǫ͝u win t͞͠͡hiş ti̷͞m̶̧̢e. But this i̛sn'͏̶t ̧̕o̢v̵̡e͞r̛.” Reality flickered, and shattered. When everything was set back to normal, the room was light again, Chase was gasping for air, and Anti and the amulets were gone. _“S͏҉e̵̡e̶ ̸yo̸͡u͟ ̧s͏o̶̡o̸͢n͢͞.”_ One last whisper around their minds, and they felt his presence disappear.

Silence.

After a long while, Jack turned to JJ and said, “You _have_ to teach us how to do that.”

JJ smiled shakily. “A strong and more specific variant of the banishing. I wasn’t sure it would work. But it was better than the alternative.”

“You can say that again.” Chase almost reached up to prod the small cut on his neck, but stopped himself. “We need to tell Schneep about this. Let’s see him deny it in the face of three eyewitnesses.”

“He’ll find a way to.” Jack sighed. “But we gotta convince him. He could be in trouble too.”

And still, Jack couldn’t shake the feeling that he knew who Anti was, and not just because he shared his face. There was something eerily familiar…like a favorite song that had been twisted and distorted into a different tune entirely.


	3. The Silent Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack and Chase may have been attacked by Anti, but Schneep still refuses to believe in magic and the supernatural. But soon, that changes.

Head fuzzy, eyes burning from being open for too long, Dr. Schneeplestein turned off his computer monitor and leaned back in his office chair. It had been a long day at work. With the first snowfall of the season came a multitude of ice- and cold-related injuries. Anything from falls off the roof to getting impaled by icicles. That last one wasn’t a joke, it was actually the reason he’d pulled such a late night. Luckily the patient would pull through with no permanent damage.

But the emergency in the—well, the emergency room—hadn’t been the sole cause of Schneep’s exhaustion. He was also behind on paperwork, by far the most boring part of the job. But that wasn’t _entirely_ his fault. It was Jack and Chase.

Schneep stood up, exchanged his doctor coat for a normal black one, and as he made his way through the halls of the hospital, he thought about his friends’ latest delusion. It’d started back in Halloween, when Jack accidentally cut himself while carving pumpkins. He’d claimed he’d seen some kind of…demon, or something, and that it had controlled his actions. Schneep had recommended a good therapist, but then Chase had bought into it, connecting this hallucination to what had happened to Marvin and Jackie a year ago. They went to some kind of magic shop and came back 100% believing there was a thing hunting them. They also acquired a new…friend, who goes by the name Jameson Jackson. He was nice, but as a believer in magic he was absolutely _not_ helping the two of them get over this ridiculous idea. And these three kept dragging Schneep along on their little adventures to find this thing, keeping him away from important matters.

It was sad, actually. That the two of them missed their friends so much that they made up some creature to explain their deaths. And _maybe_ Jack really did see something that Halloween night, but that was a whole other issue that needed to be addressed, and this contrived explanation would not help at all. Poor JJ was honestly trying to help, but…well, to put it simply, magic didn’t exist, so it couldn’t do anything.

Schneep pushed against the door leading outside, fully expecting it to open like it usually does and get blasted by the chill outside. But instead, his efforts fell flat as the door didn’t budge. Frowning, Schneep pushed harder, then checked the handle to see if it was stuck somehow. Looking through the glass, there wasn’t anything outside blocking the door from opening. He tried the other half of the double door set, with the same result. Sighing, he turned back around to ask Shelly, the receptionist, what was wrong with the entrance. That seemed a serious problem for a hospital.

Bu the reception desk was empty.

That in and of itself was such a rare sight that it took Schneep a moment to process it. And Shelly took her job extremely seriously, too, so that was even more strange. What if someone came in and needed help? But…looking around the hospital lobby, there was nobody waiting, no patients, family, nurses, or anyone. 

Schneep frowned. “Hello? Is anyone there?” He called out. “The door is fucking stuck. That is a problem, isn’t it?” His voice seemed to echo for longer than it normally would.

Whatever. He’d just find a different door. Any competent hospital had more than one entrance. He sped up a bit, walking quickly. Even so, it took a long time to get to a different door…longer than it should have.

This one was also stuck. Glaring outside, Schneep saw there was also nothing blocking the door. Or maybe there was. It was an unusually dark night, and it just kept getting darker, encroaching on the safe haven of the hospital.

He was starting to get nervous. In addition to the exits not acting like exits, there hadn’t been a single person in the halls, neither doctor nor patient. No signs of life whatsoever, just unnaturally bright florescent light reflecting off unnaturally clean white surfaces. Actually, there might be something wrong with the lights. They were humming louder than they normally did.

Part of Schneep thought he was overreacting. But most of him was getting really freaked out. Despite his common sense, he broke into a run. Were the halls stretching out in front of him? Extending impossibly? Or was it just his imagination?

All the doors were stuck. There was no reason why they should be. Looking outside, Schneep saw nothing but darkness, like the windows were monitors that had been switched off. Looking inside, there was nobody. Nothing except for the empty nurses’ stations and rooms with doors ajar. All the lights were on. Was the hum getting louder?

Seriously convinced something was wrong, Schneep fought down a shiver of fear. He was a highly intelligent doctor, he should be able to find a way out. And then an explanation. Forcing himself to be calm, he walked at a totally normal pace into the nearest room and over to the window. They could be opened…he thought. Apparently not, because this window might as well have been a wall. Okay. Okay. No problem. There were lots of windows. And if they were all stuck, then…then…he had his cell phone. He could call someone and ask what the hell was going on.

He turned around. The door to the room was closed.

“What?!” He dashed forward, frantically trying to turn the doorknob. To no avail. Letting out a cry of frustration, he kicked the door near the handle. It didn’t even jiggle. “This is not funny anymore!” he shouted. “Who closed the door?!”

As if in response, the lights overhead made a strange sound— _vahfshazahaha_ —and flickered. Directly above Schneep, a bulb burst, showering him in sparks. He instinctively threw up his hands to protect himself and closed his eyes. When he opened them, the lights had gone out. With outside being pitch-black, the window wasn’t letting in anything. Schneep was totally blind. The humming was gone. Somehow that was worse.

Schneep swallowed the lump in his throat, and tried to steady his breathing. He reached into his coat pocket for his phone, fumbled, then took it out with shaking hands. Before he could call, there was a cheerful _ding!_ and a text popped up on screen. **Unknown Number: Hello.**

Schneep frowned. He unlocked the phone and replied, **Who is this?**

Immediate reply, accompanied by the same text alert. **Unknown Number: The reason you’re stuck alone in dark silence.**

The doctor’s mind raced. _He_ was the target? Why? And how had this person managed to make everyone leave the hospital but him? Cautiously, he texted, **Where are my coworkers? My patients? What do you want from me?**

This time, the text alert noise was different. It was distorted. Like the sound a computer program makes when it breaks down. **Unknown Number:** **They’re gone :)** **And what I want from you? Simple. Go through the door.**

Just as Schneep was texting that he’d tried the door and it was stuck, it swung open. A blue-white light poured through the crack, accompanied by a new humming. But this one wasn’t electric. It was elec _tronic_. The sound of static filled the air. It sounded like there were words inside. Schneep hesitated. How…where was this coming from?

The glitched text alert sounded again. **Unknown Number: What are you waiting for? You want answers, don’t you? G̕o ͢t͏h͏ro̷ug̴h ̡t̨he d̛oo͠r.̷** Something was odd with the text on that last part.

The need for an explanation got the better of him. Schneep crept out of one dark room, and ended up in another one. That shouldn’t have been possible. The hall was supposed to be here. But clearly this place didn’t care about object permanence anymore, because Schneep found himself in a smaller room, illuminated by the glow coming from a set of computer monitors on a desk. They were the only things in the room, aside from a wooden chair.

Text alert. Even more glitched sounding. **Unknown Number: Sit down, doctor.**

Slowly, Schneep did just that. He studied the monitors. They looked like feeds from security cameras. Nine areas, each labelled. They weren’t places in the hospital. He didn’t recognize them at all.

**Unknown Number: Watch c̨ar̕eful͢ly, Schneeplestein.**

**Why?** Schneep was starting to get less scared and more frustrated, mostly stemming from his confusion. **None of this will tell me anything! You still haven’t told me who you are!**

The alert was angrily distorted. **Unknown Number: That’s n̵o ͝way ̕t̴o talk to the one who holds your l̸i̷f͡e͏ in his hands. A simple twi҉st, and it could be go͟ne ̢for̢e̵ve͡r̢. Now be good and watc͢h t͡he ̶fu̵c͏kin̶g s͢cr͟͠e̢͠͠e͢ņs̡͝ .**

Genuine chills ran down Schneep’s spine. He was pretty sure that, whoever this was, he could see him. He didn’t want to take a gamble when his life was the bet. And something about the messed-up text was disturbing him…So he set his phone on the desk and stared intently at the monitors.

For a long time, nothing happened. He was on edge, but he didn’t dare look behind him in case the texter would make good on his threat. After what seemed like an hour, something flickered in one of the monitors. A crackle of static, and a glimmer of somebody in one of the rooms. Then nothing more.

The hairs on the back of his neck were standing up. Schneep turned around. Was somebody behind—

_“D͟o̴̡n̸'͞t҉ ̛͞ţu҉̧ŗ͞ņ͢ a̕̕r̵͠oun͏d̡!”_

Schneep jumped, immediately facing the monitors again. He didn’t know where the voice had come from. It sounded like someone talking through a broken intercom.

Time passed. He wasn’t sure how much. Every so often something would change on the screens. A flicker of white noise. A change in the scenery. A silhouette walking down the halls. Gradually, they increased in frequency. The feeling of somebody standing behind him, watching him, never went away. But when he tried to look away, a broken, glitchy shriek would sound, closer every time. So the doctor stared intensely, gripping the edge of the desk, waiting waiting waiting for something to happen.

Something did.

Another flicker, just like any other, happened in the lower left, drawing Schneep’s eye. Another silhouette had appeared in the hallway, walking toward the camera. But as it approached, it cleared, until it revealed who exactly it was.

“Jack?!” Schneep gasped.

Something was wrong with his friend. His eyes were blank, like the eyes of a dead thing. On his neck, where the scar from Halloween was supposed to be, bled a gaping wound, a red smile from ear to ear. Through the monitors came the sound of strained, wet breathing.

Static crackled in the air. It almost sounded like laughter. The text alert, now distorted to the point where it sounded like a screech, broke through the terrible breathing. Schneep glanced at it, then slowly turned it over to reveal the message. **Unknown Number: Do you like it? :)**

“What have you done?” Schneep breathed.

The texter heard him, and replied. **Unknown Number: Not as much as I wanted. The pathetic one with the hat interrupted me before I could continue. Then you, ze g̡o͞o̸d͠ ͏dơc͝ta҉̢h͞͠, undid all my hard work. Are you p̦̝̣̪̜̳̰̼r̸̪̻̖o̤͕͇̗̯̖͖u̷͍̹͢d̴̸̪͔̦̱͞ of yourself?**

“You…” Schneep looked up. The Jack on the monitor had disappeared, but the image was seared into his mind, along with that horrible sound. “On Halloween… _you_ did that?”

**Unknown Number: Of course. Jack even told you what happened, and you decided to ignore him. Not a very good friend, are you?**

“I…” He didn’t want to admit that some of the pieces were falling into place. The way everyone in the hospital had disappeared. The mysterious darkness outside and jammed doors. The way he’d entered a room, then exited and ended up in a different area. The way Jack claimed he’d been attacked by something not…natural.

He didn’t want to admit that maybe Jack had been right all along.

Another glitched screech. **Unknown Number: Ever the logical doctor, arencha? Come on, it’s right there. Oh, and you should look back to the monitors around this point.**

Schneep glanced back up. Another flicker, this time in the upper middle. The room with all the creepy fake heads. One of them was wearing a very familiar hat all of a sudden. As Schneep watched, blood dripped from it. Static, and then they were all the same, red leaking from the ends of their necks. A song was playing…a familiar carol in the background, slowed and broken.

“What do you want?” Schneep asked, almost crying out.

There was no answer. The carol was growing louder. On the monitors, Jack and Chase kept appearing and disappearing, with wounds of increasing severity. Blood dripped down limbs, oozing from gashes. The breathing returned. It grew more and more strained, like a dying patient. At one point the new one, Jameson, appeared, hands clamped over his mouth with blood dripping between his fingers. Suddenly, they all disappeared. The carol cut off.

Then, right behind him…

“I ͡wan͟t͡ ̡ yo̕͢͡u̕ ̧a͠͝͝l̴̷l̷̸ ̵̶ to s̶̥̣̘u҉̰̖̥͖͍̣̻͟f̬̮̤f̳͔̦̣̬͈͢͟ͅe̴͔͈͈̹̱͓͔̼ŗ̷̮̹͍̻̙͔͠.”

Schneep jumped upright and spun around. There was a man there. Or what should’ve been a man, but more resembled a computer glitch trying to imitate a man. He looked eerily like Jack, but his body was glitchy and fuzzy around the edges, crackling with distortion and white noise. The upper half of his face was covered by a nest of shadows, glowing green strands of light twisting in the center of his forehead. And his neck wound…even as a doctor, who’d seen many horrible injuries in his career, Schneep couldn’t help but cringe. The throat was practically ripped open, showing the red flesh beneath the skin. Blood flowed freely. Glowing green strings were stitched over the wound, stretched taunt and pulling apart as they tried to keep it shut.

The man smiled too widely. “Hello, doct͞o҉r͡. Do you k̢no̕w ͞w̸ho̕ ̸I̢ ͠am̸?” His voice, impossibly, sounded digitally broken. Glitchy.

“You—you’re the one who attacked Jack,” Schneep said, breathless. He backed away. “They call you Anti.”

Anti laughed. “Oh, I l̵̛o̧v͏͡e͏ that name. It’s so…f̛̛i̡t̶͡tį̨ng.”

They’d been right. All along, Jack and Chase had been right. Schneep could feel the foundation, the building blocks of his world toppling underneath him. But in the collapse, he latched onto one solid fact. “You killed Jackie and Marvin.”

Anti’s smile twisted. “Wh̨o̡ s̶ai͡d ̵I _k͢͝i̕͢l̡̕l̵̡e̢͟͡d̵͡_ thęm͡?”

Schneep could feel his heart stop. “I—I saw the bodies myself.”

“Ye͝s҉, the bod̨i̴e͟s̕…” Suddenly, Anti was right in front of him. Schneep started, stepping backward, but Anti grabbed him by the arms, holding him in place. His hands were cold and his grip was too strong. Schneep nearly bit his tongue trying to keep from crying out. “…but you ņev͡e̛r̶ t͞h̕ou̷gh͠t̷ about their s̶̨͝o̸ư͏ļ͢s͏͡, didja?”

“I…” Of course he hadn’t. He’d always thought souls were an abstract concept, made up by humans to assure themselves of their inherent goodness. But in the face of this three-dimensional computer virus…

A small giggle escaped from between the clenched teeth of Anti’s smile, accompanied by a bubble of blood bursting in the neck wound. “ Lo̸ok̴ a͝t͏ ̢t̨hįs…” Anti spun the doctor around, so that he was facing the monitors again. On the glitching screens, images of Marvin and Jackie appeared and disappeared. They looked like the corpses Schneep had seen a year ago: dead and gray and empty.

“What did you do?” Schneep asked. When Anti didn’t answer, he repeated the question louder. “What did you do?!”

“Oh, you̵'͢d͢ j҉ust̕ ̡ l̷͢ơ̛v̸̨̕͢e͟͏͡ to ̧k̶n̶ow ̴th͞at͏ ͞w͏o̵u̷ldn̵'͡ţ y̵ou?” Anti snapped, the static in his voice cracking, growing stronger. “Yǫu'ḑ l̷̨o͝͞v̧̧͢͡ę̡ t͢o s̷o͏l͠v̡e͢ ̷t̴he mys҉t͠ery ͏ơf ̨y̛o͝ur ͠dea͡r̶ d̶e͟a̢d fr̨i͏end͠s͟.͠ To̕o͝ ͢ba͠d,͟ ͡so̷ ͢s̸ad. N̴o͡͡w̴̨ ̕t̛͡h̶e̵͝y̢̡'̕͡r̵̛e͏͢ ̧go̡͟n̴̸e͢ ̨͟f͢o͟r̷e͞҉͞v͟ȩ̴ŗ̵̧.”

Schneep felt Anti let go of him, and he stumbled a step forward. There was static in the air; he could practically taste it. The carol had started up again, strains of music bursting through the white noise. His heart was pounding. He was gasping for air.

“Ģ̴ơ̡̕od̵̸b͏yę̶̛,̧̡͞ d҉̴̡o̴͝c̕to̴̸r͝.”

A violent push from behind, and Schneep fell forward. Instead of hitting the monitors or falling onto the desk, he passed _through_ the screens, into a world of black and white light. The static was screaming in his ears he had to leave but he couldn’t feel his body where was he where was he where was he the noise was in his head where was he—

* * *

“Doc! Doc wake up!”

Schneep was suddenly aware of the fact that he had eyes. He blinked, and the static slowly faded away, the electronic humming dying out. There were three people standing in front of him. Gradually, he could make them out. Chase was standing directly in front of him, eyebrows furrowed and eyes wide in worry and fear. Jack was standing to one side, also looking afraid. Their new friend, Jameson, was on Chase’s other side, dangling a pocket watch in front of him.

“What…?” Schneep shook his head. It felt very fuzzy, full of static. “What happened? Why are you three here?”

“Oh thank fucking god.” Chase exhaled, letting out a breath he’d clearly been holding for a long time. “We thought we’d lost you, dude.”

“Lost me? What—”

“What do you remember?” Jack interrupted.

“I—” Schneep hesitated. He remembered it all. The empty hospital, the security cameras…Anti. “I think that you three were right.”

“You saw him, didn’t you?” Jack asked.

“Yes, yes I did. But—but I do not understand!” The doctor looked around. He was in his office, sitting on the floor and propped up against the wall near the door. “How did I get back here? Where is everyone? Where did he go?”

“Back here?” Chase frowned. “Bro, you never left this room.”

“I—what?” Impossible. His memories were clear.

“If I may…” Jameson said politely. He stuffed his pocket watch into his vest pocket, then pointed back towards Schneep’s desk. The computer monitor there was covered with someone’s winter coat, but Schneep could hear an electric hissing sound coming from under it. “We found you collapsed right here. And your computer was showing static of some kind, but in…hypnotic patterns, if that makes any sense. When we tried to wake you up, your eyes were open, but there was a—a layer of static over them.”

“Chase and I tried to call you earlier, around the time you should’ve gotten home,” Jack explained. “But you didn’t pick up. And we thought, well, maybe you were working late, so we called a bit later, but you still weren’t there. And we started to get really worried, so we called JJ and went to go check on you because better safe than sorry, y’know? And you were just—just here, on the floor, all—all fucking, in a trance. God, we were so worried.”

“It was all in my head…” Schneep muttered, mostly to himself. Somehow, that made sense. This thing, Anti, didn’t seem very physical.

“So, uh, you gotta believe us now, dontcha bro?” Chase gave a strained laugh. It was his way of relieving tension.

“Yes, well, you are not wrong.” Schneep slowly got to his feet, the other three rising from the crouched positions with him. “This Anti, he is truly dangerous. He talked to me, told me…he told me that he wanted us to suffer.”

“That lines up with what we’ve seen of him, yeah,” Jack muttered.

“But…” Schneep hesitated, then rushed forward. “But there is more. He said he didn’t kill Jackie and Marvin.”

There was a deafening silence as Jack and Chase looked at him in shock. “But…we saw their…” Chase said weakly.

“He said he killed their bodies, but not the souls. I think he’s doing something to them.”

“Yes…” Jameson nodded slowly. “Yes, that makes sense. Your friends messed with some magic beyond them, and somehow summoned Anti. If he wants suffering, if he… _feeds_ off this pain, like so many demons do…then he would draw their pain out for as long as possible. And now, he’s been unleashed. You three were close to them, so you’re his next targets…”

Jack straightened. “Well, we’re not just gonna let that happen. We’ll find some way to defeat him, and we’ll get Marvin and Jackie back in the process. We _will.”_

The others nodded. Even Jameson, who hadn’t known the Marvin or Jackie, was loathe to leave two people suffering. Jack retrieved his coat from where it was left on the computer, making sure to not look at the screen, then they all left, closing the door behind them.

The static intensified, leaving the computer and becoming a solid mass. It cleared to reveal Anti, crouched on the edge of the desk, glitching and holographic. He glared at the door. They thought they were so smart, didn’t they? Thought they had him all figured out? Thought defeating him and saving their friends was _so_ easy?

The joke was on them. Anti laughed softly. He hadn’t been exaggerating when he’d told that doctor they were gone forever. 

He fizzled out of existence once more. So that foolish magic man had rescued the doctor at the last minute. His plan would continue nevertheless.

They’d all be sorry.


	4. Speak No Evil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While alone one night, Jameson finds himself vulnerable to attacks from a certain villain.

JJ yawned, and looked at the clock. He tried to keep his shop open past midnight every night, in case somebody wanted help with a lunar spell. Those were most effective when conducted at midnight, or at the moon’s zenith. But JJ was not a night owl like Jack or Schneep, and sometimes he just couldn’t stay up that late, especially knowing he had to open at noon the next morning. This was one of those times. The clock read 10:58 and his eyelids were already drooping.

He straightened his posture, stretching. Then, he went through the motions of closing up. Sweeping the floor, dusting the books and talismans on sale, moving the change from the register to the strongbox, turning off most of the yellow lamps, flipping the sign on the front window from “Open” to “Closed.” But before he could go upstairs to his apartment and and his soft, comfortable bed, he had to check the side rooms. There were two: what he called the green room, where he did readings for tourists, and the crimson room, where he kept some of the more useful magick materials…those that he felt safe keeping out in the relative open.

The green room’s entryway was an arch without a door. There _was_ a curtain of beads, but those did nothing except impress the customers that didn’t know anything about magick. A lot of those would pop in, checking out the strange little shop that looked like it belonged in an earlier time period. The green room was sort of catered towards that type, with a bunch of aesthetic junk, most of which did nothing. There was even a crystal ball sitting on top of the table’s fancy cloth, though in his experience flat, reflective surfaces were better for scrying.

JJ rummaged around the room, adjusting the paintings on the walls, checking the chest of drawers to see that everything was in its proper place. It seemed it was…but…JJ frowned. He couldn’t find his cards anywhere. He double-checked everywhere, even peeking underneath the tablecloth. No, they weren’t anywhere.

“Well, that’s a pickle,” JJ muttered to himself. He’d made those cards himself. Imbued them with magick of his own making, in addition to any they might already have. Honestly, the art of the tarot had always struck JJ as a little… unauthentic. It started as a card game, after all. But who knows? He’d learned long ago to never assume anything was ordinary.

Time to check out the crimson room. JJ turned the lamps of the green room off, brushed through the bead curtain, and crossed through the main body of the shop and over to the closed door that led to the crimson room. He reached into his vest pocket and pulled out a small key ring. He selected the larger key of the two and used it to unlock the door. Everything should be in order here, he hadn’t used it all day.

Everything was _not_ in order.

The first thing he noticed was the light. All the lamps in the room were on and blazing. JJ froze. That was impossible. Not only did he keep the only key on his person at all times, not only were there no windows and the vents were too small for anything to fit through, but also the room was protected. There were runes inside the walls and talismans under the floor. Nothing should’ve been able to get in and turn the lights on.

Except it had been breached once before.

JJ shook off the memory. He didn’t like to be reminded of that day. Sure, he’d met Jack and Chase and they’d become his two best friends, but he’d also nearly lost them within an hour of finding them. And that demon…the way he’d barely managed to banish him in time…it had shaken him. He’d doubled the defenses on the crimson room, and on his apartment upstairs, but maybe it still wasn’t strong enough…

He stepped into the room, eyes darting from side to side. The only thing that was different was that his deck of cards was sitting in the middle of the center table. JJ stared at it. There was no way that could’ve gotten here. Was there?

“Who’s here?” JJ called.

The lamps flickered, and JJ jumped as the door behind him slammed shut. He whirled around, pulling desperately on the handle, but the door refused to budge. JJ took a deep breath, trying to calm down. His mind darted between fragments of knowledge he’d learned over years of study. But this was instinctive. He thought he knew who this was. And he knew almost nothing about him.

“So, is it you?” JJ turned back around, putting his hands on his hips. He schooled his features into a carefully neutral expression. “I think you’re the only one who could get into this room at this point. What do you want?”

A few of the lamps flared, then burst with an electric chuckle, leaving the table the only thing truly illuminated. The message was more than clear. JJ folded his arms. “Why don’t you show yourself? I know you can.” Unless…he’d been rather quiet for the last three months, ever since he went after Schneep at the hospital. Maybe he was weakened…? Or he needed time to manifest?

There was no answer. JJ debated just ignoring him. Not acknowledging demons defeated a great deal of them. But he’d already talked to him. Fiddlesticks. Well, might as well go along with this. Who knows what the consequences could be otherwise? And he wasn’t ashamed to admit he was curious. Despite months of research, they hadn’t found much information on him. What if he could learn more? What if he could use that to help his friends?

Cautiously, JJ took a seat at the table. A chair opposite him pulled out, then pushed back in, like someone invisible had just sat there. The deck of tarot cards was pushed towards JJ, who took it, staring at the empty spot where a person should be, and shuffled. He didn’t want any tricks. Then, he held out the cards towards the empty spot. Five cards were pulled out of the deck, then laid on the table like a plus symbol.

JJ raised an eyebrow. “Five-card reading? But are you going to tell me what for?” There was no answer. “General reading it is, then,” JJ muttered. He reached out and turned over the card in the center.

The image of a knight riding into battle upon a black horse. He wielded a scythe, arching over his head. The card’s subtitle read **Death.** Well, this was off to a fantastic start. “The first card describes your present situation,” JJ said, his voice loud in the silent room. “And it sets the general tone for the reading. Many people see Death as a bad omen, but that’s not the case. It could mean the necessary death of something, such as the harvest in the fall leading to winter, and new plants growing in the spring. But…I’ve never seen Death as the first card. It may mean you’re currently experiencing it, either the death of a project or…” JJ trailed off. It didn’t usually mean the literal death of a person, but in this situation?

He forced himself to turn over the second card. A man carried seven sharp blades. Blood was on their edges, and JJ was sure that hadn’t been there when he drew the picture. “The second card is the past, it shows what events are still influencing you in the present day. This is the **Seven of Swords.** It represents…deceit.” JJ bit his lip as he thought. “That could mean your life is being shaped by a deception or betrayal that happened long ago. Or maybe not too long ago. Perhaps you know this?” A few more lamps went out, leaving just one above the table. There was a low whine in the air.

JJ hesitated a bit, then turned over the third card. Five crossed sticks, or what appeared to be. “The third card is the future. It explains events that will happen. The **Five of Wands** symbolizes struggles caused by ambition. In the future spot…it’s a warning. It means you’re pushing your plans at—at the expense of others.” His hands were shaking. The whine was steadily growing louder. “This…this isn’t a reading for _you,_ is it?” JJ whispered. “You’re the querent, but…you don’t need to know these things.” A laugh echoed in the back of his mind.

JJ reached for the fourth card, then stopped. He was starting to have doubts about this. But then the light above flickered, and the whine increased to a piercing volume. JJ winced, then hurriedly turned over the fourth card. Everything stabilized. The card showed a man with brown hair, sitting cross-legged on the floor, holding two blades crossed over his chest. He wore a black blindfold. JJ was sure this card was altered, because he knew his original drawing had been of a woman instead. “The fourth card is the cause of your current situation,” JJ said quietly. “It’s meant to shed light on the event mentioned in the second card. The **Two of Swords** means conflicting ideas. It can also mean a lack of communication, resulting in…in drastic consequences. Perhaps this led to the deception?”

He didn’t even stop to think this time. Immediately after finishing his analysis of the fourth card, he turned over the fifth. A tall structure rose into the sky of the image. Green lightning was striking it, smoke and rubble flying from the point of impact. Four shadowy figures were falling from the top. It was **the Tower.** JJ swallowed nervously. “Fifth card…the fifth card is potential. It shows what will happen if you continue on this path. And the Tower…it means disaster. Destructive, uncompromising, collective disaster. It’s approaching. I would…normally, the advice is to just let it happen, and pick up the pieces afterward. But…” JJ looked up. There was an outline of a man, full of buzzing interference, now sitting in the chair across from him. “But this isn’t disaster for you…it’s for _us._ And it’s what you want. Is that right, Anti?”

The silhouette tilted its head. “Çl̕͏eveŗ̸,” a hissing voice bounced around his mind. “You’re sm͟a̶r͞t̵er than I t̴ho͏u̡ght̨, J̞a̸͕ͅc͈̦̟͎͎̯̠͍̠k҉̧̜͟s̮̦̞͉o̪͈̗̣͈͝͠n̷͔̞̜̙͕͇. But will that s̷̡͝av̧͠e̵̴ y͡ou̴̡?”

“From what?” JJ forced himself to smile. “From you? I got rid of you well enough the last times.”

Anti hummed, annoyed. “ M͡͞a̡͢ybe̢ you did, but that was b̧͏efor͡e͞͏̸. Now, I k͡n̴ow̷. Did you think I̸̛ w̨͝a̧͢ş̴ g̛͞o͞͠n̵e͞? I’ve been here the e̛n͢tįr͠e ̕͢ţ̵̕im̵̴͠ȩ. Always ther͢e͢. ͞A҉l̶w̕ay̨s͟ ̷w̵at̸c̡h̢i̕n̸g̶.̕ Do you want to know what I s̴̠ͅa̜̼̙̪̪̣͟w̛̩?”

Jameson leaned back. “Is this some roundabout way of threatening to bump me off? Because it’s not working.”

“ O͟͏͢h͢͏͏,͟͠ ͏̶b͏u͠t i̕t̸ i̷̢ş.” Anti stood up. His form was a bit clearer now. Not quite opaque, but JJ could see the colors of his clothes and body. Green lights took the place of his eyes. He leaned forward, and then somehow, though the table should’ve been too big, he was right in Jameson’s face. “False bravado doesn’t suit you, lit̴t̴l̨e o̕͟n̢e. Not when I can ta̷̷s̴͡t̷e your f͡ęa̷͢r͟͠.” A flash of teeth. “You know the truth I see, don̨'̶t͝ yo͡u͞? Your magick is j͟u̷s͡t ̸a̧̕ ̸͟li̕e̶. It’s just trying to f̧͡o͞o̧ļ ̧̡y̷̵̕o̷u̷r ͝f͝r͏i͡en͟d̨s̸̢ into thinking you’re more helpful than you a̵̜̠̭͉c̡̭̗̯͓͉͖̹t̸̘͓̰̦͠u̴̫͍̦̪̣̕a͏͈̬̗̖͎͓̤̖l̖̱̜̩̣ḷ̸͔̯̤̗͖̪͔y̛͔̭̬͠ are.”

“That’s—you’re lying,” Jameson stuttered, pushing his chair back.

“ Abo̵u͞t w̛h̵at͞?” Anti was fully visible now, just the slightest distortion running through his body. His eyes, normally blue, glowed green behind their mask of shadows. “Your magick? Oh, but it doesn’t r̛e҉̨a̧͏l͡l̷̛y͡ do anything, do̡e̴s̷ ̸i͏t? I l̷̤͇ͅe̦͇͇̠̮̤t̸̞͎͍ you win that time. And what are all these so-̶c̵a̛ll̢ed s͝y̵̨͠m̶b̵̨o̶̕l͟͡s͠ of protection doing for you? The room is surrounded, yet h͠͠e̶r͝͝e̕͢ I̛ ̡a̷͏̢m̕̕, not deterred in the least.” He smiled a twisted grin. “ No͡t ̸v͢e̷ry ̵ef̛fe͢ct͝ive.͏ If only you had r̸e͟a̢l̶̡͢ magic.”

Jameson tried to ignore his words, but in truth each one was a blow to his confidence. He’d set up protection around the homes of his friends…were they actually not working? Had Anti slipped through them as easily as a fish through water? Jack, Chase, and Schneep had trusted him. Had he…failed them?

Not wanting Anti to get another word in, he stood up, knocking over the chair in the process, and bolted to the door. Anti made no move to stop him. There was no need, as Jameson found out when he tried to turn the handle, then, frantically, attacked the door. It would not move. The doctor had described something like this in his hallucination he’d had at the hospital, but that was just that—an illusion of the mind. Anti must be stronger now, to affect reality in such a manner.

Jameson spun around, pressing his back to the door. Maybe he could find a way to get Anti out, if he was able to get to his supplies—and if it even worked. He doubted it.

“Well, we ca̴n’t h̢ave tha̷t,” Anti said, as if he knew what Jameson’s thought process was. “C̶o̸̡me̷ b͏ac̡k̢ ̷h̷͢e̴͟r̛ȩ̵̷.” A breaking happened, a distortion as the world broke into shades of red, blue, and green. And then Anti was there, in front of him. Jameson shrieked, instinctively trying to push him away. Instead, Anti grabbed him by the wrists and pulled him forward. Jameson fell _into_ him, like the glitch truly wasn’t anything more than pixels. The buzz of white noise surrounded him. It filled his mind. He closed his eyes against the harsh static, and when he opened them, Anti had disappeared.

He would’ve relaxed a bit, but he could still hear the harsh drone. Not with his ears, like he should’ve. It was inside him. He could feel it in his eyes and in his throat. Of its own accord, his body walked back over to the table and sat down in the same chair Anti had been sitting in during the reading. And there it stayed, posture stiff, hands placed firmly by his sides. The white noise lessened a bit, and Anti appeared once again, distorted and crackling. He tilted his head. “Ye͞s̵,  
that seems to have worked as͟ ͠we͏l͝l̴ as I t̵h̨o͠ug̶ht͟ ̷it wou͟l̷d͝.”

“What did you do?” Jameson was surprised to find his mouth still worked, even if nothing else did.

“I call it p̱̲͞u̴̜̥͉̙̦͍̰͞p̰p̵̫̼̪͕̻͍̠̩e̷͉̝͓̫͓͠t̲̝̩ͅe̢͎̭̞̘̗͈͟ͅe͎̙̻̻̻̼̲̣ͅr̳̘̲i̷̟̤͉̥͢n̖̘̖͝g͍̬̮,” Anti said, wiggling his fingers like a sideshow magician. “It’s a tr̶ic͡k of mine I’ve been using since Halloween. If I keep working on it, o͝ne͠ d̕ay ̢you'̧l͠l ̵s͠tarţ to͞ l͏̢i̵̧k̵҉e̷͡ i̶t͠.”

“Never,” Jameson said through gritted teeth.

“ Th҉at'͢s͏ ̨no͡t for̸ yo̕u t͡o de̸ciḑe,” Anti growled. “Now where was I? Ah yes, your use̕l͟es̶snes͢s.” He grabbed Jameson by the chin, tilting his head up so he had to look the glitch in the eyes. “You’re just a re͝p̷l̕a͞cem͏ent͡, J̛a͏̷̧c̢k͝s̸̛o̵̸͠n. They lost their magician, and so they got a new̵ ͠ơn̵e. And, given your decoration in here, you would agree with me when I say the new is n̴̸͟e̷ve̡͠r̨ as g͡o̸o͢d as t͏h̕e̡̨͟ ̷o̷l͞d̵͞.”

“That’s your fault,” Jameson gasped. “It’s your fault their magician disappeared. Their hero, too. What happened to them? What are you doing to Marvin and Jackie?”

Anti laughed, blood spurting from his neck wound. “Oh, if̷ ͝o͞nl̨y̷ y̢o̸u ̛̕kn̛e͟w̢. I wonder if you’d wish they r̨ȩa҉ll͞y die̢d. Or maybe you’re happy here. Happy your wor͟t͠h̴less ͠litt͠le͠ head gets praise h̢e̡a̴pęd upon it that it doesn’t ҉de̶s̸e͡r̢ve.” Anti’s form flickered and glitched. He grimaced. “Seems I’m running out of time. Guess I’ll…s̵k͟͡i̴̴p̕ ̕t̛͢͞o ̡̧t̨h̸e ͏cha̡̧se͟.”

“What are you doing?” Anxiety was evident in Jameson’s voice. He tried to push through the static clouding his mind and holding him in place, but to no avail. It was like pushing against a balloon with super thick skin. Every attempt bounced him away.

“Now that won’t be a̛͞n͠y ̷̢f̧͞u̢n̢.” Anti leaned over him, the blood from his throat dripping down onto Jameson’s face. He couldn’t even blink like his instincts were shouting at him to. “Especially when you’re a͠b͢o͝ut͏ ̕tǫ f͡in̡ḑ͏͟ ͝o̧͞u̢̕t.” He tilted Jameson’s head even farther back. Something small and gleaming glitched into his hand. “ Wh̕y̴ don’t you c̵a͏l͡l f̡or h͢e͢l͠p, J̡͢a̵͟͠m͏̡ie?”

He wanted to. He really wanted to. But he couldn’t give the demon the satisfaction. He gritted his teeth and stayed silent.

“Come on…” Anti’s fingernails dug into Jameson’s skin. It felt like they were drawing blood. “It’s no̷̡͠ţ to͝o̶̕ ̛hard̸, is it? Call for help, I̡ ̢da̧͡r̴͞͡e ̛͝yo͢͟͢u. Cry into the dar͢k̕nes͝s͢. ‘Jack! Chase! Henrik! Somebody help!’ S̡ee̸ ̡w͡h̸a̛t̵ g̸͕͓͇̣̤̘̩o͏̹̗̪̹̞o̸̶̦̯̣d̸͖͕̫͍͇͖ͅ it ͝do̸es͟ ̷you͝!”

He couldn’t take it anymore. He had to. “H-help,” he whimpered.

There was a moment of quiet. The electronic hum started filling the air again. Anti smiled with unrestrained delight. “ B͞u̢͞ţ ̨͢no͠͝bo̵̴d̸͞y ͏ça̴͡m͞͏ę͢͞,” he whispered. “What a s̵h̕a͠m̴̨e. I’m sure the ot̶her͡s̛ would l͡o̡̕͟v͏̡e̢ to see this.”

The static in Jameson’s mind increased, and a pressure grew in his throat. He tried to cry out, but his voice wouldn’t work anymore. Anti moved his hand, and the small, glinting object he held came into view. It was a needle. A simple sewing needle, threaded with green string. And Jameson knew what was going to happen. He wanted to scream, he wanted to beg, but he could do nothing.

The first pinprick didn’t hurt too much. But the sensation of something that wasn’t supposed to be there, of it being _pulled_ through the hole made his skin crawl. And the next one was much the same. And the next. The strings tightened with each new puncture. Tears began flowing down his face. Anti seemed to enjoy that. He muttered constantly throughout the process, reminding him how he couldn’t do anything, how he was worthless, how his friends didn’t really care for him. Every word drove deeper through the static in his mind.

He didn’t know how long it took, but eventually Anti tied a knot to hold the string in place, then broke the rest of the thread off. He moved Jameson’s head side to side, admiring his work. He grinned. “ Let'̢s ̸s͡ęe͟ ͏w͞h̶a҉t̛ th̕ey̛ ̨think̛ ͏of͡ t̷̢͓͈͠h̴̪̮a̶̰̻͢ͅt,” he said, tapping the oozing piercings with his finger, stroking the string. There was a lot more blood than there should have been. He loved it. “Go sh̕ow̸ them your n͟͠e̸w ac͟͡ç̢e̷͝ss̛o̶͠ry̨.”

The static overwhelmed him, and the world broke apart. Anti faded away, the last thing to go being his glowing green eyes. 

The world fixed itself, and Jameson found himself kneeling on the floor in a hall somewhere. It looked…medicinal, like a hospital. It wasn’t long before he realized that the static had disappeared. He could move again. Immediately, his hands flew to his mouth, clawing at the thread. It teared at his flesh, blood running down his chin. It was agonizing. It didn’t matter. He needed them out. It wasn’t working. Why wasn’t it working? Why couldn’t he get them out? He had to keep trying. He couldn’t—he couldn’t—

“Jameson?”

He clasped his hands over his mouth. No, no he couldn’t let—how could he explain? He looked over his shoulder towards the familiar voice. It was the doctor, dressed in his coat and scrubs. Of course, this was a hospital. Schneep stared at Jameson. “What are you—?” Then he saw the blood dripping from between his fingers. Schneep’s eyes widened, and he squeaked. For a moment he looked like he wanted to run away, but instead he ran forward, kneeling beside Jameson. “What is it?! What happened?! Was it him?! Here, let me see.”

Jameson didn’t answer, just pressed his face even harder into his hands. When the doctor tried to pry them away so he could look at where the blood was coming from, he shook his head. Schneep looked at him, a strange light in his eyes. “Please. I cannot help if I don’t know what the problem is. Let me see, my friend.”

It was something about those last two words, coming from Schneep, the one he knew the least about, that made Jameson relax, and let the doctor take his hands away. Upon seeing the mess of blood and string, Schneep froze. His mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out. Silver tears lined his eyes. Then, without warning, he pulled Jameson into a tight hug. “I’m sorry,” he choked. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…” he repeated the same words again and again, like saying them could change what had happened.

Jameson only let himself be held, and shed a few more silent tears.

* * *

It was a chill night. Or was it early morning? It had been close to midnight when Schneep last checked the clock, but after JJ had appeared he hadn’t had the time to look. He’d been on the way to his office, ready to gather his things and go home for the night, only to turn the corner and see Jameson kneeling on the floor, blood coming from his mouth. He immediately dropped everything, dragging him to the nearest operating room.

And now, Schneep was outside on his apartment balcony, pacing back and forth. It was cold, but he didn’t care. He had to think.

“Hey, doc.”

Schneep turned and saw Chase walk out onto the balcony, closing the sliding door behind him. His eyes were rimmed with red. “Hello Chase,” Schneep said dully. “Is Jack still inside?”

Chase nodded. “Yeah, he’s still talking with JJ…or, uh, talking to.” He leaned against the closed door. “He took one of your notebooks and pens. But…JJ isn’t using it.”

Jameson had been quiet. Not that he had a choice anymore, but he hadn’t attempted to communicate in any way. He didn’t nod or shake his head when asked yes or no questions, and he avoided eye contact with any of the others. If he did happen to catch their eyes, he teared up and looked away. Yet, he didn’t want to be alone either. He reached out and clung tight to them when they looked like they might leave.

The one question he answered? When Schneep asked if Anti was responsible, he nodded vigorously.

“Maybe he is not ready yet,” Schneep sighed. “I would not blame him.”

Chase moved position, now leaning on the balcony railing. Schneep stopped his pacing and joined him. Chase hesitated for a moment, then asked “Are you sure you can’t—”

“I tried, Chase,” Schneep snapped. “I broke my best pair of scissors and dulled half the supply of scalpels in the hospital. It is not normal string like it appears.”

“Okay, doc, calm down. I didn’t—I didn’t mean it that way.” Chase’s voice broke. “You’re doing—you did all you can, I get it. I’m just…it’s fucking horrible, man. I can’t believe…I thought shit like this only happened in horror movies.” He gazed out over the quiet city. “I can’t even find a reason,” he whispered.

“Anti does not need a reason,” Schneep said through gritted teeth. “He is a monster.” His grip on the railing tightened. “And the world would be better off without monsters.” Why Jameson, of all people? He was harmless. Maybe that was why. Schneep turned, looking straight at Chase. “If we ever find a way, if we ever get a chance, I am going to kill him.”

Chase considered this. “What about Jackie and Marvin? Only he knows what’s happening to them. We need to get them back, doc. We can’t kill him until we do.”

Schneep paused. “I suppose you are right. Although I wonder…” He turned away again, looking back out over the dark city. “If Anti is capable of something like this, then…if we get them back, what shape will they be in?”

Chase had no answer for that. So the two of them stood in silence, watching the darkness of night gradually recede. If only all the darkness of the world would disappear so easily.


	5. The Static Speaks Their Names

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chase disappears. While Jack, Schneep, and JJ try to find him, to no avail, he's alone with Anti.

Chase couldn’t remember how he got here. He couldn’t remember where “here” was. He’d been home alone late one night, when he’d gotten a text from Jack, explaining that he was outside and needed Chase to open the door for him. The text said it was an emergency. He was expecting something like this. After what happened to JJ two months ago, the boys were constantly on edge. None of them went anywhere without a way to contact the others, usually their phones. So when Chase got that text, he didn’t think anything was odd. He rushed to his front door, only to see nobody there. He remembered going back inside, feeling uneasy, then hearing a low whine coming from…somewhere. He’d gone off to find it, and as it increased in volume his vision began growing dimmer…and dimmer…until he passed out, and the last thing he saw was the glitching outline of a man with glowing eyes.

He’d woken up in a room of red light. His feet dangled a few inches above the floor, and strings were wrapped around his wrists, suspending his arms above him. He’d lost his hat. The room didn’t have windows, or even a door, and was completely void of decoration or furniture. There was no place the red light could’ve been coming from.

At first, he called for help, with no answer, or even indication that anyone heard him. Then he struggled, pulling against the strings, feet flailing, but nothing changed there either. Nothing changed ever. The red light never faded, never flared, never stopped its strange glow. It was low enough to make the empty room seem dark in the corners, but bright enough so that when Chase closed his eyes he could still see it through his eyelids. Nothing he did made any difference to the rest of the room, and that made him want to scream. So he did. And still, everything was the same.

Time must’ve passed. There was no way it couldn’t have. But there were no clocks and nothing he could use as an indication of time. Eventually, he got tired, as humans do, and started to fall asleep. When that happened, something finally changed. The same low whine he’d heard in his house started up again, growing loud for a while, then fading away again. And, after a period of silence, it reappeared and disappeared once more. Then this repeated again. And again. Every time he started to doze off the electric drone would start up, startling him awake, until his eyes were running with tears from deprivation.

It was a while before something finally happened. The strings were digging into his arms, rubbing his skin raw and bruised, and he’d stopped fighting against them long ago. His head hung low, and his neck hurt from not moving it in a long time, but he didn’t care anymore.

The whine returned. It grew more intense then ever before, crackling and breaking. Then it lowered in volume, but didn’t go away completely. Chase didn’t look up as the sound circled around him, slowly. It came closer, stopping in front of him. He still didn’t look up. “Don’t have anything to say, C͞ha̧s̸e͏?” A voice hissed, sounding more like white noise than anything human. “I thought you were the one who n̕e̴ver̴ sh̕ųt ͠u͏p͞.”

Chase twitched a bit, but refused to look at him. He knew who it was, of course. Who else would do something like this?

“ Co͡me ̡no̕w̶, I know this isn’t as e̴a̶͢s̷y͢ as you’re m̵ak̸i̢̡n͡͡g͢͝ ͝m̷e believe,” the static cajoled. “I can f̤̣̮e̛͎̞͉͇̪e̮̣̣̳̠l̞͎̱ it. You just want to m̨a͟k̵e͞ this̛ di͝fficul̶t for me, d͝on’t y̷o̢u?”

Chase didn’t say anything; even if he had the energy, he wouldn’t. A distorted sigh came from the static. Then a hand, not entirely there but not entirely not there, reached out and grabbed his head, forcing it upward. Chase winced and gasped as the sudden movement caused a jolt of pain down his neck. He was staring into the eyes of the demon.

Anti looked the same as ever. Blue eyes and brown hair, just like Chase’s own, mask of shadows covering the upper half of his face, flayed neck with a series of green stitches barely holding him together. “ Th̡at'̴s͡ be͠t̢ter̴,” he smiled. “How are you, C͡h̸ase͡? It’s been a while. Your p̶r͝ett̡y ͡l͝i̧tt͡le̸ neck hasn’t had any more kn̡i̸v͠es held to it?”

“Shut…up,” Chase muttered. It was the best he could manage.

“Ouch, C͢ha͏s͡ȩ. You wound me. And here I was, hoping to have a n̶ice,͡ p͝l͠e͏asant cha̵t̸.” Anti disappeared for a moment, breaking apart and fading away. Chase felt a hand in his hair, fingers gently grabbing strands and then pulling hard, yanking his head backwards. A small sound escaped his throat before he could stop it. “We have plenty of time to… c͓at̟̹c͉͍̜̰̜h̥̱͖̪͢ ͎up̖. Ask me anything, I̸'̴l̷l a̢n͞sw̷e͏r͏.” The hand let go, and Chase’s head flopped back into position.

Chase gritted his teeth. There had to be a trick here. Anti fed off pain and misery, he wouldn’t hand out answers without a price. But the question was, would the answers be worth the cost? Maybe one wouldn’t hurt… “Where’re Jackie and Marvin?” Chase rasped, voice hoarse from non-use.

“Oh, they’re close.” Anti sounded amused. “Even clo͢se̡r͢ t̷ha̷n̕ ̶yo̢u t͝h̨in̶k.” 

He reappeared in front of Chase, a slight smile on his face. “Do you hate me, C͝h̨a̴sȩ?” he asked sweetly.

“Wh-what?” The question took him by surprise.

“I said…” Anti leaned forward and lightly grasped Chase’s face. “Do you. Ḩa͝t̵͟͝e̶. M͠e̛?”

“Yeah, course I do.” It only occurred to him that lying was an option after he’d let the truth fall out of his mouth.

“I see.” Anti backed away again. “And wh̴y͟ is that?”

“I…who wouldn’t?” Chase said. His words were a bit slurred. His mouth was moving faster than his tired mind and everything came pouring out before he could think it was a bad idea. “You…first you—first we thought you killed Jackie an’ Marvin, instead you’re doing worse…and you almost killed Jack…and then you tried to—hypnotize Doc, or somethin’…and then you…you fucking maimed JJ and he hasn’t talked to us since—no’ that he can, anymore, but…”

“Oh, C͞ha̸s̛e,” Anti shook his head. “Chase, Chase, you only think this because you can’t see the ͞bi͢g͠g͟er pictu͝re.” A knife appeared in his hand. Chase’s breathing hitched, but Anti merely began playing with it. “Let’s relate this to something you know. Your wife decides to l͢eavę ̶y̴ou͟ and take the kids. The day after the divorce, you burst into your friends’ apartment and begin crying. ‘I’ve l̵ost̸ he͡r,’ you say. ‘I’ve l̕oşt ͟t̵he̛m̢. I can’t do it anymore. I can’t do li͢͝͞fe̴̛ ̸ ͠w͏it͟hout them.’ And your friend does his best to comfort you.”

Chase blinked, confused. He…remembered that. It actually happened. After his first night officially alone, he’d broken down. The next morning he’d gone to the apartment Jackie and Marvin shared. Marvin had let him in, and Chase started crying. He remembered saying that exact phrase…

_“I can’t do it anymore,” he had said, voice choked by tears. “I can’t do it without them.”_

_“Do what, Chase?” Marvin had asked gently.  
_

_Chase had paused. “Life. I can’t do life without them.”_

_“Oh, Chase, no…” Marvin had pulled him into a hug at that point. “Don’t say shit like that. It…worries me, and I know the others would feel the same way. If you think you can’t do it, then we’ll help you out. That’s what we’re here for.”_

“But what if your friend was also married?” Anti asked. “In fact, what if all your friends were? What if, instead of seeing their marriages crash and burn around them, they continued on with them, h̛a̡p̵py ̨as ̶can ̵be̡? You lost eve̴r̕y̴th̡ing, and they lost n̕o̴̡t̕h̷i͠n̶̨g͡. Wouldn’t that just eat a͢wa̴y̴ at you? Wouldn’t you want them to f͏ee̷l͟ wh͡at y͠ou ͡fe̡lt?” The world cracked and broke. Anti smiled a too-wide smile. “Wouldn’t you want to find your h̷ap͏p͠i̴nes̵s͏ in ̷th͞e͢i͝r s̕͠u̢͞ff̸̴eri̛͡ng̡?”

Anti stopped playing with the knife. He held it tight in his hand, and with a single swipe he cut the strings holding Chase up. With the strings severed, Chase fell to the ground and immediately collapsed, his legs too weak to support him. He wheezed faintly and tried to stand up. But the strings, still wound around his arms, took on a life of their own, the loose ends burying themselves in the solid ground like snakes burrowing through sand. He was stuck.

“Not yet, Ch̛a̷s̛e͏͠.” Anti crouched on the ground next to him. “I’m not done t̛a͡l͏kin͢g ̛to ̵y̸o͝u. I know something you don’t, and I’m sure you’d l͢͝o͟v̷e̸͢ to hear this.”

Chase shook his head. “I’m not…’m not listening to you.”

“ Yo̢͡͡u̶ w̴͝i̷͞l̛̕l̶.” Anti reached out and grabbed the side of Chase’s head. His hand dissolved into pixels, into red and blue and green, and the pixels sank _into_ Chase’s head. Chase blinked and gasped as the electric whining grew, but only within him. It was buzzing in his head, piercing his mind, clouding behind his eyes. At first he wanted to recoil from the sensation, but the longer it went on…

“ Do yo͡ų w̡ant ͝t̴o̵ ̡se͝e y̨o̡u̸r f͎ṛ̗̜͇͖̳͍͠i̙̯̯̗̖̩̙e̳̼̥ͅṋ͝d̤̲̹̦̫s̲̰̻̥̮͎, C̨h̨a̢se̷?” Anti asked, his voice sounding almost layered.

Chase mumbled an affirmative answer.

“Do you want to kn͠o̶w wha̶t h̸a̡pp̵e͟n͡ed to̡ ̛th̛e̷m?”

Chase nodded. The sound of the static, which before had kept him awake, was starting to sound peaceful and calming. His eyelids were so heavy…

“Don’t fall asleep just ̕y̧e̢t̕.” A loud, electric snapping sound brought Chase back out of his own head. He stared dully at Anti, who was grinning. “I want to sh̸ow ̕y̡o̡u ͟some͡t͠h̕in͡g.”

Anti disappeared, turning into fractured shapes for a mere moment. And then he reappeared, but…different. His shirt was more red than black in color, and the slit across his throat had closed a bit. The shadows that usually hid his face were gone, and the blue of his eyes seemed to be a different shade. He smiled, but it wasn’t _his_ smile. “Hey there, Chase,” he said. There was no distortion in his voice anymore.

Chase gaped for a moment. Then, he started to cry. “J-Jackie?” he choked out.

Jackie—Anti— Ja͝ckie nodded. “Hi dude. You look terrible.”

“N-not funny.”Chase reached out, patting Jac͢k͡i͠e’s shoulder, then his chest, just to make sure he was there. He wasn’t paying attention to the strings pulling at his arms anymore, or to the static in his mind whispering _It’s him…it’s your friend…he’s right there…he’s come back to you…you can trust him…_

“Chase, what happened to you? You’re acting a bit strange.”

Without another word, Chase threw himself at Jackie, wrapping his arms around his _friend._ “Jackie…” he sobbed. “I m-missed you…we thought you and Marv died, and-and then we found out you didn’t and it-it was _worse,_ because-cause we didn’t know…we didn’t know what was hap-happening…Jackie, you’re alright…”

Ja̡c̡ki̕e hushed him. “It’s okay, Chase. I’m alright. Marvin is alright. You are alright. But, you know, it’s not gonna stay that way for long.”

“It-it’s not?” The thought terrified him. Why couldn’t he have his friends back? Why couldn’t everything go back to the way it was?

“No, it’s not. I’m sorry, Chase, but we’re in danger. The world is fucked and upside-down, and we have to fix it. Marvin and I have a plan, but it involves you. You need to help us. Is that okay?”

“Of course it is,” Chase said eagerly. “Anything you need.” He would do it. He would do anything for his friends. He always did.

“Chase, you’re going to have to listen to us no matter what. You’re going to have to do exactly what we say. We know what we’re doing, and if you don’t do as we say, terrible things will happen. Do you understand? Do you agree?”

“Yes̷͢s̨s̢.” The word that came out of his mouth was laced with static, echoing the empty drone inside his mind.

Jackie smiled. “ V̡er̕y g̢ooḑ.” A wave of shadows cloaked the upper part of his face, but that was fine, that was his mask that he always wore. His neck was fine too, it couldn’t have been too serious an injury if he was still walking and talking normally. And his voice was fine, it just sounded like that because he was hearing it through the buzzing inside him. Everything was good. His friend was back. Everything was good. His friend was back.

Anti pulled away from Chase’s embrace, and smiled as he tried to cling to him for as long as possible. The plan had worked. A few days of isolation and sleep deprivation to break down the mental walls, then pulling on Chase’s desperate desire to have the people he cared for return. It may have taken him months to practice his puppeteering and mental tricks, but it was worth it. “Now C̸h͟a͟s̸e͠, there are just a few̨ ̵mo̕re thi̷n͢g̢s to take care of,” he purred. “And then we can get started on the plan. Ǫk̵ay͞?”

Chase nodded, empty eyes never looking away from his “friend.” Anti reached out and grabbed hold of the strings still wrapped around Chase’s arms and wrists. He showed no reaction when Anti pulled on them. Perfect. A tingle of glitches wound around Anti’s fingers, turning into a sewing needle, blood staining its silvery metal. “That’s great. Now, if you would just h͞ol̡d ̨st͡ill…”

* * *

“Where the fuck is he?!”

“Schneep, calm down!”

Jack and Schneep were meeting in the doctor’s apartment. The living room had become a sort of conspiracy hub, sofas pushed to the side to make room for an enormous city map sprawled on the floor, pictures pinned up on the walls with random sticky notes everywhere in between. Schneep was currently anxiously walking around the perimeter of them map, while Jack was standing to the side, equally anxiously watching his friend pace.

“Calm down?! I think the fuck not!” Schneep ranted. “It has been a week. A _week,_ Jack! None of the other times has Anti attacked one of us and we disappeared for a week! Something bad is happening, I just know it.”

“Well, that’s kind of a given,” Jack pointed out. “But if you’re panicking then your mind isn’t working right. You may overlook something. Not to mention, yesterday I walked in to see you crashed on the floor. I know it’s cliche to say, but you’re no use to Chase if you die of sleep deprivation.”

“Do not be ridiculous. It takes ten days or so to die without sleep. Although hallucinations start in after three or four…” Schneep paused, thinking for a moment before resuming his pacing. “Has JJ said anything about—I mean, has he found anything yet?”

Jack shook his head. “He hasn’t gone back to the shop since…you know. And he won’t let me go get his supplies. So he can’t do anything big. But he’s done some scrying, and hasn’t found anything. It’s…really affecting him.” Jack hesitated, then quietly continued. “He’s getting worse, Schneep. He barely comes out of the guest room in my house anymore. And you’re not sleeping, or eating…we’re falling apart, and Anti knows it.”

Before Schneep could reply, a cheerful _ding!_ chimed from his pocket. Innocent enough, but the doctor stiffened. Carefully, he took out his phone and looks at the text on the screen. His face paled.

“What? What happened?” Jack asked, confused. Then his text alert went off. Jack dug around in his pocket and pulled out his phone as well. “It-it’s Chase,” he said shakily.

“I have gotten the same message I believe.” Schneep showed Jack his phone. The message in question was an address, followed by the words _Come now :)_. “And I do not think it is Chase. I think—I think he is in our phones.”

Jack swallowed nervously. “Can he do that?”

“Apparently. That time in the hospital, when he made me dream…in the dream he talked to me through my phone. We all assumed that was part of it, and not real, but maybe it was. Or, the concept was real.”

“So, then…” Jack glanced back at the message. “We’re gonna go, then?”

“What other choice do we have?”

“…I guess we don’t have one at all. Let’s go.”

The address led them to an empty house. It was in the middle of a busy, normal neighborhood, but it looked abandoned. The windows were boarded up and the yard was overgrown. There was a For Sale sign out front that looked like it had been there for a while. Jack and Schneep took a moment to gather their bearings, then pushed open the warped door and went inside.

The front door led to a hallway that didn’t lead away from the front like it was supposed to, but instead turned immediately to the right. Several old TV sets and a few computer monitors were stacked in piles along the way. Every one was on and showing blank static. The hall lights were off, but the screens provided adequate, if eerie, light. The two of them exchanged wary glances, then started cautiously down the hall.

Eventually the hall opened up into a living room. The furniture was faded in color and the hardwood floor was dusty, save for a few footprints and a long, clean strip that looked like something had been dragged. A single, broken ceiling lamp gave off a flickering yellow light. That pale illumination let Jack and Schneep see Chase, sitting lifelessly on the couch.

Jack made a strangled kind of sound. “Chase?” he called. When there was no answer, he turned to Schneep. “Is he…?” He couldn’t bear to finish that sentence.

Schneep looked at Chase. He wasn’t moving at all, and he looked sick. Thin, off-color. His hat was pulled low over his eyes. “I do not know…” Schneep muttered. “Chase? Can you show us you can hear us?” No response.

Jack took a step forward. When that didn’t elicit a response, he took another, then slowly walked to Chase. Schneep followed after a moment. The floorboards creaked with every step.

Jack sat on the couch next to Chase. “Hello? Chase? Buddy?” he said softly. “We’re here to come get you. Are you ready to go?” No response. “Chase, please.” Jack grabbed Chase’s hand. His fingers brushed something…strange. Frowning, Jack pulled Chase’s hand further into the light—and he gasped, horrified. Green string was stitched around Chase’s wrist, bleeding a bit from the puncture wounds. He checked his other wrist, and saw the same thing.

“Schneep…” Jack whimpered. “Are you…is this…”

Schneep was keeping his distance. He could see the stitching well enough from where he was standing, and he hated it. “It is, Jack,” he said, voice choked. “Anti…seems to like stitching things together.”

Jack could feel the hot sting of tears in his eyes. “Chase, man, c’mon. it’s us.” He took hold of Chase’s shoulders and shook him gently. “ _It’s us._ ” The movement dislodged Chase’s cap, shedding a bit more light on his face and neck. The green stitching wrapped around Chase’s neck as well, and his eyes were covered in a film of static. For a moment, Jack just stared. Then the first of the tears came pouring out. He could only hold Chase tight and mutter “Please…please…” trying and failing to get a response. Schneep hovered close, hand covering his mouth in utter shock. His eyes were watering as well.

After a bit, Jack looked at the doctor. “We have to get him…I don’t even know, somewhere safe. Away.”

Schneep nodded. “Yes. Yes, of course. Here, I will help.” The two of them supported Chase between them, one arm flung over each of their shoulders. They staggered back down the hall. The static on the screens hissed.

Chase blinked. And shuddered a bit. Then with a single movement that was way too powerful for his slight build, he pushed Jack away and threw himself at Schneep. Jack crashed against the nearest pile of screens. For a moment the sound of the static whispered in his mind, dazing him. Then he forcefully shook himself out of it. He sat up and saw that Chase had knocked Schneep to the ground. His hands were wrapped around the doctor’s neck, strangling him. Schneep was doing his best to push Chase off of him, but he was unusually strong. A twisted sort of smile was pasted on his face.

“No!” Jack scrambled to his feet and pulled Chase away. He received an elbow to the face for his troubles. He stumbled back, warm blood trickling from his nose. But Chase didn’t stop there. He continued to attack Jack, punches landing much harder than they should have. Jack panicked, and ran back down the down the hall in an effort to get away. He made it back to the living room and skidded to a halt.

Anti was there, standing in the middle of the room with a grin on his face to match Chase’s. “Hello, J̧ack͝ab͟oy̴,” he said. “It’s been t͞oo ̧l͢on̵g͝.”

“Anti,” Jack breathed. “What did you do to Chase?”

“Nothing much.” Anti took a step closer. Jack looked over his shoulder, only to see this twisted version of Chase blocking his exit route. “I just gave him wh̢at he ̛w͞a͟n̢te͝d̶. I made him h̷a͠pp̡͡y̷ ̴ąg͡a̢͟in. Didn’t I, m̡y͢ ̕frie̸n̕d?”

Chase nodded. “ Y͢es..̢.̕I͟’m̴ ̸so͟ ̷h͞ap̨p̡y͠.̕..͠” Jack shuddered to hear the distortion in his voice.

“No,” Jack shook his head. “No, Chase, bro, this isn’t—he—you’re not alright. We’re your friends, dude. You need to snap out of it!”

His pleas had no effect. Chase merely tilted his head to the side. “ Y̡o͠u’r͞e̶ ͞no̕t ̴th̶e̡m..̶.my f͞r͡ien͝ḑs a͡re ̧her͟e̸.͟..̛”

“Isn’t it a̢m̡a̵zi͞n̛g̸ what a week of training can do?” Anti laughed. “Just three days of preparation was all it took, then four more days to get every͝t̢hi͠n̵ģ pe̕rf͢e̕ct once he s̶a͟w t̡he ͠t͢rut͞h. Now we’re reąd͏y̶ ͏f̧o̶r ̴th͢e ne͡x̢t p͏h͢as͞e.”

“Over my dead body.” Schneep had reappeared, standing in the hallway behind Chase. He looked ready to fight, and he stared at Anti with a furious fire in his eyes.

“Don’t be r͟i̴d͢icu̵l̡ous͏, doctor,” Anti said, unbothered. “I wouldn’t give you t͢h̸e ̨sat̷isfac͝tio͝n̕.”

Schneep growled. He grabbed Chase by the arm and tried to pull him away, but Chase shook him off without even looking in his direction.

“ Th͢is̛ ͏demonstr̕aţi̕o͝n͢ ͠is͟ ̸over.” For a moment, reality broke into shadows of red and green, lagging and glitching in a nausea-inducing way. When the world righted itself, Jack and Schneep were standing next to each other, facing Anti and Chase. Anti’s arms were wrapped around Chase, as were a few green glowing strings. Chase’s expression was blank and unconcerned.

“You cannot—!” Schneep lunged forward, but he was too late. Anti and Chase disappeared in a flurry of pixels tied together by red strings. Schneep stumbled forward a few more steps before stopping. “No…” It was amazing how much despair was contained in that single syllable.

“Schneep?” Jack said quietly. “Are you…going to be okay?”

The doctor rounded on him. “No, I am not going to be fucking okay! That is our friend! Anti has—has _broken_ him! Become corrupt! Like he is a puppet master who sees us as—as his to take. How can you stand this?! How are you so fucking calm?!”

Jack didn’t say anything, just wiped his eyes. “I’m not, Schneep.” His voice broke. “I’m not. But you can’t let him win. You can’t let him get to you. If you just…give up now, we lose Chase forever. If you go crazy with revenge, he’s gonna use that against you. I know he will. Please, Schneep…we can’t…we can’t…” He trailed off, unable to find the words. “We’ll get him back. We will.”

Schneep was shaking, his teeth clenched, but he forced himself to close his eyes and take several deep breaths. “Yes, we will get him back,” he said. “And we will get the others back, and make sure Anti can’t hurt anyone ever again.”

“That’s the spirit.” Jack smiled weakly. “Now…we need to tell JJ about all this and start figuring out what to do. Let’s head to my place.”

The two of them left the abandoned house. The static in the screens continued to hiss and whine long after they were gone, crying out, calling the names of the ones who were lost.


	6. Shot in the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Schneep sees Chase and follows him, trying to get him back. Unfortunately, he walks right into a trap.

“Hey doc. Just checking in. Everything good? Uh, your shift ends at midnight, right? Me and JJ will come pick you up. And Schneep, since I know you’re thinking something along the lines of ‘that’s stupid I can do what I want,’ this is not negotiable. You’re not walking home alone through the dark city at night. Emphasis on _alone._ I-I don’t…want a repeat of last time, or…Chase. So we’re getting you. Safety in numbers. Cool, see you then. Bye.” With a beep, the voicemail ended.

Schneep didn’t trust it. Not one bit. Anti had already proven himself able to influence technology, who’s to say this wasn’t a trick of his? Still, the question was, if this wasn’t a trick and Jack really had sent that voicemail, could he afford to ignore it? JJ and Chase had been alone when they were attacked. _He’d_ been alone, that night in December. It wasn’t safe. But if the voicemail was fake, then it wasn’t safe either. Schneep continued to struggle with this dilemma all the way through his shift, even as he set bones and preformed heart surgery.

The clock ticked to twelve o’clock, and he checked out, still having not made a decision. He changed out of his scrubs and headed toward the exit. Quite honestly, he didn’t like walking down the hospital halls anymore, especially when they were fairly empty. He went out of his way to check that there were indeed other people in the building, to check that it actually was real.

By the time he got to the hospital entrance, he still wasn’t sure what to do. He stopped next to the reception desk. Shelly, the receptionist, glanced at him. “You ‘kay there, doc?” she asked cheerfully. “You look kinda confuzzled.”

Schneep shook his head. “My friend said he was going to come walk me home.”

“Oh, and you don’t see him, huh? Isn’t he the one that’s your clone or somethin’? ‘Cause someone like that came in and asked about you earlier.”

“Really?” Schneep asked.

“Uh-huh. I told him you were in the O.R., and he said he’d wait outside. Even after I told him it would be fine to wait here, it is the waiting room after all.” Shelly laughed. “But he was very insistent. It is a warm night, so I let him.”

“And…there was only one of him?” Jack said in the voicemail that JJ was going to come too. Had something happened?

“Yeah.”

“Can you…give a bit more of a description?”

“Oh, sure.” Shelly pursed her lips, remembering. “He didn’t look too good, really. Kinda sick. He was wearing a grey shirt and a grey scarf and he kept his hands tucked deep in his pockets. And he had a cap pulled down over his eyes.”

Schneep paled. That wasn’t Jack or JJ, that was…but it had been nearly three months since what happened back in May, why’d he show up now? True, sometimes the three of them would receive taunts from Anti about him, but Schneep got the feeling this was something more serious than mere mockery. “You—you said he was waiting outside?”

Shelly nodded. “Are you sure you’re okay, doc? You look…”

“I am fine,” Schneep insisted. “I-I am leaving now. Good night, Shelly.” He didn’t wait to hear her return his good night, just walked straight toward to hospital entrance and pushed outside.

The outside wasn’t exactly dark, per say. The hospital had lamps set up. But currently one was out and a few were dimming, and the hospital was short-staffed enough that replacing the bulbs was not high on the list of custodial priorities. There were patches of shadow all over the roundabout and the nearby parking lot. At first glance, nobody was outside. But then Schneep turned his head to the left and saw him. A familiar silhouette leaning against the wall, right in one of the dark patches. He turned his head toward the doctor with a sudden jerky movement.

Schneep inhaled sharply. “Chase?” he whispered.

There was no answer. For a moment, Chase just stood there. Then without warning, he pushed away from the wall and ran in the other direction.

“Wait!” Schneep knew that Chase wouldn’t respond, but he couldn’t stop himself from calling out. He started to follow him before stopping abruptly. This couldn’t be a good idea. But…it was _Chase,_ for god’s sake. If there was a chance, he had to try. Though, just in case, he had to tell the others where he was going. He knew the phone wasn’t safe, but he texted Jack a quick summary:anyway **I saw Chase outside the hospital. He ran away and I know it is not best thing to do but I need to do this**. After a moment’s hesitation, he added, **Jack, you know you are one of my best friends? I just want you to know. Tell JJ too. Thank you.** Then he pocketed the phone and ran after Chase.

It soon became clear that Chase wasn’t trying to run away, he was trying to lead him somewhere. Whenever Schneep got too far behind, Chase would stop and wait for him to close the distance before taking off again. Schneep tried to look around and memorize his surroundings, where they were in the city. But it wasn’t too long before he didn’t recognize anything. Where could they be going?

They reached an office building that looked like it had been abandoned for years. The windows were boarded up, and the stone facade was cracked in places. Schneep watched as Chase walked up to the door, pulled it open, and went inside. After a short pause, Schneep went inside as well.

The door swung shut behind him. Schneep immediately spun back around and pushed on it, but it wasn’t locked. It opened fine. That was odd. He could leave if he wanted…

He stood there for a moment before letting the door swing shut again. Then, slowly, he turned around again.

The medium-sized room was devoid of furniture. There were bare lightbulbs dangling from the ceiling. The walls were ripped open, exposing pipes and a lot of electrical wires and equipment. On the far side of the room was a pair of elevator doors, and an empty door frame revealing a stairwell going up. Chase was standing in between the elevator and the stairs, hands in pockets, a scarf around his neck. Schneep couldn’t stop himself from noticing how pale and thin he was. His cap was tilted up, and the static film was visible even across the room.

“Chase?” Schneep asked hesitantly. No answer. “Chase, can you—can you hear me?”

“Ye̸s̨.”

Schneep shuddered, hearing the white noise breaking his voice. “Why are we here? Did you…did you want to see me?”

“The͠y̸ w̵ant͏ed t͠o̵ s̡ee y͝ou̵.͡”

“But what about _you,_ Chase?” Schneep said softly. “What do you want?”

“I want͡ to ̸he̛l̡p the͝m.“ Chase pulled at the scarf around his neck and let it drop to the floor. “S͠ee̷?”

The sight of the green stitches made Schneep’s heart wrench. “That is not—Chase, that is not proof of good intentions. We just want you to come home, why can you not do that?”

“B̛eca̧uşȩ ̡I̛’m aļready ͢t̴hȩre͡.” The elevator doors opened. Without looking away from Schneep, Chase backed up and stepped inside.

“No—!” Schneep sprinted forward, but the elevator doors closed before he was even halfway across the room. Still, he would not be deterred. He ran through the empty doorway and into the stairwell. Looking up, the stairs extended in a rickety spiral. He didn’t know where Chase was going. He didn’t even have a guess. So he’d be forced to check each floor systematically. Fine. He’d do it.

First floor from the bottom. Nothing. More bare lightbulbs and exposed wiring. A few cables dangling from the ceiling. There was only one room, as the door into the next had been boarded up. Second floor from the bottom, same result. But on the third floor, things changed. The lightbulbs were red now. A few TVs were stacked in the corners of the room, showing static. There was no boarded-up door, because there wasn’t a door at all.

Schneep was just about to leave when there was a break in the hiss of the static from the TV screens. A laugh. “Do you en͏̸͏j̴o̶̴y͟ going in ç͟͠i̸͟rc̕le̶̕s͏̢̡?̴̨” There was no doubt about who was asking that question.

“Shut the fuck up,” Schneep growled. He went back out into the stairwell and slammed the door behind him.

The fourth floor was just like the third, but with the addition of more TVs. “Why so h̢͞o̧s͡t̛i̸͞lȩ, doctor?”

“You know exactly why!” When he returned to the stairwell again, the lights had gone red.

Fifth floor. There were wires on the floor and the TVs were mounted on the walls. “You’re blaming m̨̨e̷͟ for what happened t̵o̡̢ ̛͝y̨o̶̡̕u̕r̷͢ ̨f̵̧riend̛̛s̕? Those two ş̸e̴̢͠a̷͢l̷ed ̡̧͢t͟͝h̕ei̡ŗ̴ ͢o̴̧͞w̵͠n̶͞ ̸̛fa͠t̛͞e͟s̴.͞ I had nothing to do with it.”

“It’s not just about Jackie and Marvin and you know it!” Schneep realized he was just encouraging him. He resolved to not answer him any more, and concentrate on finding Chase.

As the stairwell rose higher and higher, it began to break down. Even more exposed wiring, holes in the drywall, even a few missing steps. Every floor got increasingly worse, the rooms getting smaller, but packed with more screens and wires. And something even more concerning: green string looped around the cables, strangely shimmering. Every time Schneep opened a door, Anti had a message for him.

Sixth floor. “You’re upset about th̸e̡ ͠o̶͡th̵͡er̛͠ş͡, then? I assure you, I never meant Jack any harm. Not p͏̡̛e̷͝r̴m̵̶͡an͞e̕nt̴̡l̵̨̛y͞.”

Seventh floor. “Or are you thinking of t̢he͟͞ ͠f͏͏a͟͞k̷̛e͏ m̷̢a̵g̢͡i͏cia̷n͏̕'͠s̴ silence? If he wasn’t casting spells, he didn’t r̶̸̕e̢͟͢al̵̢ly̴̕ ̨ne̸̴e̢͞d̷̢ to speak, did he?”

Eighth floor. “But I’m a fool for forgetting our fa̸͞v̵͡or̡i͡t̶̶͡e̢͝ ̵̕bo͞y̛̛. He made his c̕͞h̨͢o̡͟įc̨e͞͡. He did it t̛o̢͢ ̶͡h͏̶͝im̵s͢el̕͟f͏͠͞. I simply gave him the right i̢͞͝n̛͞cen͟͏̸t͝͠iv̴͠ȩ.”

Ninth floor. “Oh, doctor. It’s no f̡̢͞u̶̸n if you don’t respond. Have you given up so e͟͞ą̧si̢̨l̴̶̨y͠? No, you just won’t give me the sa̢t͠is͡f̧a̡c͠t̵͝i̷̵͢on̵. But how do you know this isn’t exactly w̶hąt̸ ̧I ̶̛w̨ant̷ed̵? You, with nothing to do but have all the times you fai̴ļ͡e̷͞d̷͡ yo̡u̵̢̧r̷͏͡ ̸f̴̷r̴ie̸͟n̶ḑs͠͝ rattle about your brain.”

The stairs ended at the tenth floor. The highest he could go. If Chase wasn’t on this floor, Schneep didn’t know what he would do. He didn’t feel like going back down, searching, while those words hissed in his ear. Taking a deep breath, Schneep opened the door to this floor.

It opened into a room, just like all the other floors below. But unlike the others, this room had a door, and it was ajar. Giving a quick glance to all the screens in this room, Schneep half-ran over to the door and pushed through it. There was a long hallway beyond, in equally bad repair as the rooms and the stairwell. Green string was intertwined with sparking wires. The red lightbulbs overhead were few and far between, leaving long stretches of darkness between them. There was one door all the way at the end of the hall, one on the left side, and one on the right. There were more TV monitors, sitting on the floor and mocking him with their white noise. He was really starting to get sick of that static.

The door to the left was the closest, so he decided to start there. It led to a small room, completely empty except for more screens and a set of elevator doors, which Schneep immediately walked over to. As he passed the screens, they whispered to him… _worthless…useless…you almost lost Jack on Halloween…you couldn’t remove Jameson’s stitches…you lost Chase to this demon…why can’t you do anything right?…why do you always fail them?…_

The elevator was empty, and there was nowhere to hide in the room. Well, that was one option down. Now to check the room on the right.

This one had less monitors, but more green string draped across every square inch of the place. And there was a table in the middle. Square, wooden. Nothing out of the ordinary. Schneep considered backing away, but when he thought about it, there could be clues on the table. Clues as to what this glitch is, and how to get rid of him. So he crept toward it.

There were six objects on the table. Five of them were dolls. Cloth dolls, with yarn for hair and fabric for simple clothes. But Schneep could tell who they were modeled after. The dolls were them. But…broken. A doll in a black hoodie had the cloth of its throat cut, with stuffing spilling out. Another in a vest and with a mustache had green stitches across the small black line that represented its mouth. One with a snapback cap had strings sewn into its wrists and neck. And one wearing a white coat had its little button eyes missing.

Schneep picked that one up, examining it further. The eyes weren’t just missing, they were ripped off, with remnants of string where the buttons would’ve been sewn. He shivered, and put it back on the table. There was still one more doll. This one was…different. It looked like someone had taken apart two other dolls, then stitched them together in a twisted way. The limbs were loosely connected to the torso, which was bleeding stuffing. The little head had a tear right down the middle of its face. And the doll was wearing a cape, a hood, and two masks: blue and white.

“Mein Gott,” Schneep muttered. He was tempted to pick up the broken doll, but it looked like it could fall apart at any moment. And maybe that would have consequences for the two who the doll represented. Because there was no doubt about who that was. What was Anti doing to Jackie and Marvin? He almost didn’t want to think about it. Schneep forced himself to look away from the dolls and toward the last item on the table.

He recognized it. Chase’s gun. How it got here, he didn’t know. But it was loaded. Schneep hesitated, then picked it up. It was heavier than he expected. He had no idea how to use it, other than the general “point and shoot” method, and maybe it wouldn’t even work on Anti, but it made him feel safer.

The last room was at the end of the hall. Schneep had to be honest with himself; he was afraid to check it. But he had to. If Chase was there, if he could…Schneep steeled himself and started walking forward. Every step brought new static from the TV monitors, hiding words inside… _You could have talked them out of this…you could have tried harder…you could have spent more time with them…none of this would have happened if you weren’t such a failure…if you weren’t so hopeless…you could have stopped this but you didn’t…_

The room at the end of the hall was empty. There were no lights overhead, no strings anywhere. The room was so large and dark that Schneep couldn’t even see the walls. Piles of old TVs were scattered around, their endless static giving off a white glow. “Chase?” Schneep called. His voice echoed.

Of course there wouldn’t be an answer. Schneep clutched Chase’s gun tighter, and started his search. The TV piles weren’t ordered, just stacked at random. But he could remember where he’d been, couldn’t he? Or maybe he could find one of the walls, and walk around the edge of the room. He had to do something.

_What was there to do?…did he really think he could do anything good?…he was a failure, an idiot…he couldn’t save his friends…he would do better to just give up…_

“Stop!” Schneep shouted. He firmly planted his feet on the ground, not walking anymore. “I know it is you doing that! I know it! And you are doing no good, so stop!”

It was silent except for the static. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw the shadow of a figure run past in the white glow of the screen. He spun toward it, instinctively raising Chase’s gun, but he lost it. Laughter echoed through the room. “If you’re so ç͢͝onc̶͝e̶rne͟͟d͞ about my whispers, that means they’re doing their jo̸b͟͢͞, and they’re doing it w͟͟ę͡l̡͡l.”

“I—I am not concerned!” Schneep’s eyes darted about. “It is just very annoying, having to listen to them for this long.”

“Li̕͟a͞r,̸” Anti hissed. “You’re in d̴e̢ni̵al͟, Henrik. Denial of t̶h͏̢̧e͠ t̸r̢ut̶̛h̸̛.”

Another shadowy figure darted past, almost too fast for Schneep to catch. “You do not call me that!” Schneep yelled. “That is for my friends to call me, not—not monsters!”

“How do you know they’re not o̴n̴e̢̕̕ ͡an̢̨d̕ ̨͏th͞͠e s͢͟a̶͏m̧e?” Anti asked.

“Shut up! Shut up!” He spun around, watching the figure rush past him yet again. “I will not have such fucking slander to my friends!”

Anti laughed. “Are they your friends if you’ve tą̧k͝e͢n more from them than g̡iv̸e͢n̷ to them in turn? Are they your f̶̢ri̵̡e͟n͢d̛͡s if you’ve never helped them o̕͞n̡c̸͠͝e in the moment it matters? Are they y͡͠ơu͠r̶̨͠ ̴f͞͏r̡i͢͝en̡d̸s̶ if you di̸̵d͟n͏͢'̴t̨ ̵͞s̕a̶v̧e̶͢ ̷̨͡t̨͟ḩ̕e͢m?”

“You know nothing about this.” Schneep glared into the darkness. He’d find him, he would.

“Avoiding the qu͠e͠͡s̵̶tio͟͞n I see! Are you t̵o̶͞o̸ af̸̨ra͡i͟d̸̛̛ to answer? T͠o͟͠o͞͡ ̶̢a͏f͏̷̵r̸ai͏͢d̴̢, because you know the answer… i̡͞s̸ n̴̨̛ơ̵?”

“You know nothing!” Schneep repeated, screaming. The figure ran past him, and again, and again, while Anti laughed.

“W͏̕͏e̡͟aķ̵̴!̵” he shouted. “W͢o̷̵̸r͞ţ͢h͏l̵̢e̵̵s̨s!̷ Fa̷i̛͏l̶҉ure̛͞!̨͢ You͡'҉ve ne̸ve̵r̛ h̶elpe͝d an̢yǫnȩ aņd̕ y̧ou̧ ̵ n͏̜͎̹e̹̕v̵͖̼̳e̯r̰̥͡ ̡̰̼͓̟͔w̯̙̼ͅi̜̘̲̞̪͇̤l̗͇̟̯l̪̭̮!”

“Get away from me!” Schneep screamed.

Something moved in the corner of his eye. Quickly, Schneep spun around, raised Chase’s gun, and fired. The kickback made him stumble, and he instinctively closed his eyes as the loud bang from the gun drowned out everything else in the room, leaving a ringing in his ears.

Even the static seemed reduced. Schneep opened his eyes and looked at a body sprawled on the ground. Had he done it? Schneep edged forward, staring down at the body.

It started slowly, then built up. A mad laughter, crackling with white noise. “Y͏̶҉̭̟͉̳̪͖o̻͡u̷̢̯̜͔͖͓̦̕ ̩̦̝͕͖̻͞m̨̖͕͔̖̳̕į̝̘͝ͅs̘͖̙̗̰͞ṣ͍e̡҉̗̯͎̰d͓͖͔͢!̱͍̞͍̥͉ͅ”

The light from the TV screens intensified, allowing for better sight. Schneep gasped. “Chase!” he shouted. “No no no no no!”

He threw the gun to the side, then scrambled forward, kneeling by Chase’s side. The bullet had hit him in the chest, and he was losing a lot of blood. Schneep tried to remember what could have been hit…what _he_ could have…

“Chase please answer me!” Schneep shook his friend’s shoulders. There was no reaction, but now Schneep’s training was kicking in. He pressed two fingers to Chase’s wrist, checking for a pulse beneath the stitching. He found nothing. He repeated the process with Chase’s neck, but still nothing. “Chase no you can’t be—!”

Chase’s eyes were still clouded with static, still dull and lifeless. Schneep could feel tears running down his face. “Please, I did not mean—I did not mean—I am sorry, I did not—! Chase, please!”

Schneep felt a hand on his shoulder, but he barely registered it through the panic and the shocked grief. “It doesn’t matter w̕h͠a̵t͠ ̴͠y̡͡ou͝ ̴͟m̸̨e̵͞an̸̨͡t̵̵,” a voice said. “What matters is w̴h̕a͠t ̡̨y̸o̡͡u ̴d̵̕id. And what did you do, He̷n̵̷͢ri̴̛k̸?”

Someone was pulling him away from Chase. He tried to stay with him, he had to, he had to let him know he was sorry, but he was being pulled away. He fought against it, clawing at the ground, legs flailing, but it was not use. He was being taken away, Chase was being taken away, he was sorry, it was his fault, he never does anything right, he was sorry Chase, Chase please wake up, please be fine, please—

A hand grabbed his head and pushed it back, pushed it until the back of his head hit something hard. A warm, prickling sensation started to fill his mind, pulling him down…down…down…and the last thing he saw before the static blocked his vision was Chase’s body…his fault…

Anti watched as the static from the TV crossed through the screen, latching onto the doctor’s head. Schneep slowly stopped struggling, and his eyes filled up with white noise. Not like Chase’s had, where it was a film that you could still see the eyes through. No, they were completely blocked out by static, which then spilled down his cheeks in trails of tears. In the white noise given off by the television, you could hear a voice, crying and shrieking. “ ̵ ̡ ͢͢ ̸̨ ͞ ̸͟ ̛͞ ̧͝ ̸̴ ̴̷̕ ̵ ̸͟ ͟ ̴ ̷̢ ̷͢͡ ̧ ̶̸̡ ̶ ̨ ͢ ̛̕ ̶͞ ̵ ͞ ͏ ̶̡ ͟͝ ̷ ͟ ͡ ͏͠ ̡̧ ͏̴̵ ̸.”

Anti smiled. Perfect. “You can ̵g͏̧et ̴̶͡ųp now,” he said.

The body stirred. Chase sat up, acting perfectly fine despite the bullet lodged in his chest. Anti eyed the bleeding wound. Maybe he should fix that soon. Wouldn’t want his _dear friend_ to bleed to death. But he could handle it a bit longer. “Didn’t I t̢e̕͢l̸̛l y̛o͡u͏̷ the bullet wouldn’t h̢u̵͝r͏t you?” Anti asked, smirking. “And I was r̵̶͢i̴̡̧gh͢͠t̴̨. This is why you tr͏͡u͟s̡̨t̶̸̴ ̢m̨̧e͠͏.”

Chase nodded. “Y̡e͢s͢.͞ ̡I d͏ơn'̧t̡ kn̨ow why I̕ ̴doubted y̕o͢u. I'm͝ ̡so͢r͡r̕y.”

“You’ve realized your m̛iş͡tak̛̕e, so I’ll a̢c͞c̡̕͡e̷p̶t̵͡ ͢͠yo͟͞u̢r ̧a̢͝p̨o͝lo̢g̷̛y̛͞.͟” Anti stood up, then reached down and pulled Chase up as well. He held him tight by the wrist, enjoying the texture of stitches on skin. “Now…we have to drop it off, d̢on͟'̷t̛͡ w̡͡e̵͢͝?͝”

Chase looked down at the empty body. “Y̵e͠s͝.̵” Then a look of confusion managed to make its way onto his expression. “B͏ut...̵w̡hy̶ di̴dn̡'t ̢w̶e͏ ju͞s̡t.͏..͡”

“Why isn’t he l̸̴͞i̡ke̷͡ ̡yo͏̢͝u̸?” Anti leaned closer to Chase, keeping one hand around his wrist and wrapping the other around his neck. Chase showed no reaction. “It͏̶'ş͞ ̵s̷i̕͠mp̨ļ͞e̶,̶̡͟ Chase. He wouldn’t ļe̵̸t̶ ̸̴m̡e̵. You heard how a̸͞͡ng̢r̷̕͝y̵̨ he was. He would have rather b̵̨r̷̡o̵k̶̨e̢̕n than seen the light. So, we had to ge͞t͢͞ ̵r͡į̵d ̶̸o̶f͟ ̵͠hi͞m̡͞, understand?”

I͠ u͡nde͠rst̡a̢nd,” Chase repeated. “W͢hat̛ ḩappene̴d͞?”

Anti walked toward Schneep’s body, kneeling beside it once more. “Don’t worry, he’s still a̢l͠i̶ve. You can check for a heartbeat if you want. I’ve just separated his ş̶̴ou̶̷l͠ from his b̵͠͠o̸̧̨d̷̢y̶̢. For all intents and purposes, this is a coma.” 

Anti paused, letting the static fill the air. And with it, the voice trapped inside: “ ̵ ̡ ͢͢ ̸̨ ͞ ̸͟ ̛͞ ̧͝ ̸̴? ̴̷̕ ̵ ̸͟ ͟ ̴ ̷̢ ̷͢͡ ̧ ̶̸̡ ̶ ̨ ͢ ̛̕ ̶͞ ̵ ͞ ͏ ̶̡! ͟͝ ̷ ͟ ͡ ͏͠ ̡̧ ͏̴̵ ̸!”

He smiled. “S͠w̶ee̷t̶̨͢ d̛̕re̛a̵͡m̢͢s͠͝͏, He̛͝n͝͡r͏i̴̸k̶̢͠,” he whispered, though he knew they would be anything but.

* * *

“Look, it’s probably fine, he just…” Jack trailed off. “Okay, no, you’re right, it’s bad.”

JJ nodded firmly, adjusting his mask. It was a recent acquisition, one of those fashionable surgical masks you can order online. This one was blue with a black mustache on it. Jack had gotten it for him, so he could go out without having to show off the stitching.

Jack reread the text Schneep had sent him once again. “Maybe I would’ve done the same thing,” he muttered. “I don’t know. But I think he should’ve at least waited for my reply. When did he get so…impulsive?”

They’d looked everywhere for him. Or at least, everywhere around the hospital. He couldn’t have gotten far. Now, it was four a.m., and they hadn’t seen any sign of Schneep at all. JJ insisted they head back to Jack’s apartment, presumably to get some sleep and continue in the morning. It was hard to tell, as Jack and JJ were still only beginning to learn sign language so most of the time they had to resort to vague gestures.

When they finally got back to Jack’s apartment, it was eerily quiet. Jack noticed. “My neighbors in this apartment usually have their TV on all the time,” he explained to JJ. “No break. I once woke up at five and still heard it. Why stop now?”

JJ didn’t even try to say anything, just grabbed Jack’s forearm nervously.

“And here we are, home sweet home.” Jack stopped in front of his apartment door and fished out the keys. It unlocked with a _click._ The two of them entered the apartment, shut the door behind them, and then Jack reached over and flipped on the lights.

Schneep was sitting in one of the chairs.

Jack jumped. JJ ducked behind him. “Dude, it’s fine, Schneep is just…back.”

JJ shook his head vigorously. He clearly thought something was up.

“Okay, fine, look, we’ll…talk to him.” Jack cautiously approached. He was having flashbacks to May, and what happened with Chase. But he had to know. “Schneep? Doc?” Jack reached out and touched his shoulder. There was no response, so Jack walked around to get a look at his face…and gasped upon seeing the empty eyes of static and tears.

“What the fuck?” Jack said gently. “JJ? You want to look at this?” JJ, pressed firmly against the wall, shook his head. “I think it’s fine. It’s, like, a different thing. His eyes are…and I don’t see any stitches…” JJ took a couple tentative steps, and when nothing happened he walked right over, though he kept his distance.

“He’s breathing, but he’s not…there…” Jack waved his hand in front of Schneep’s eyes. He shook his shoulders. He punched him lightly in the chest. Nothing. Jack swallowed. “I don’t know if this is worse.”

JJ sat on the sofa, then reached over and grabbed a pen and pad of paper from a nearby end table. He scribbled down, _Do you think we should wait? To see if something happens?_

“Yeah…yeah, good idea.” Jack sat down next to him.

An hour passed. More. The sun began to rise. Nothing. JJ seemed keen to watch for a while longer, or perhaps he was just too scared to take his eyes away. Jack was…tired. Not just physically from staying up all night, but…mentally. Was being okay just, not a thing that could happen anymore? Was there any way to stop this all? Anti wouldn’t stop by himself. Not until everyone was hurt, everyone was suffering.

And Jack made a decision. His friends wouldn’t be victims anymore. They wouldn’t be in pain anymore. He refused to let it happen. He refused to let Anti win.

He’d do anything for them.


	7. Save Him

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After trying to find something to stop Anti, Jack and JJ instead run into him...and Jack makes a desperate gamble to protect his friends.

“But thank you guys so much for watching, if you liked this video, _punch_ that like button in the face, like a _boss!_ And! High fives all around. _Wh-pssh! Wh-pssh!_ But thank you and I’ll see all you dudes… _in the next video!_ ” The moment he was done with the outro, Jack dropped his smile, slumping deeper in the chair. Not for the first time, he considered taking a break from YouTube. The stress of making videos every day, on top of everything else—and he was recording videos for Chase’s channel, too, just to make sure nobody started getting suspicious about where he’d gone. If someone called the police on his missing nature, he doubted they’d be able to do anything, and it would be better if no one else got mixed up in this.

Jack turned off the camera, and then the computer. He swiveled his chair around and stood up, stretching. His work for the day still wasn’t done. He left his recording room and came out into the hall. This was a fairly big apartment, but it was still an apartment. There was a tiny room he’d chosen to record in, a bathroom, a living room, a small dining/kitchen combo, and two bedrooms. Everything was packed close together. It only took about five steps to get from the recording room door to the guest bedroom door. As Jack opened the door, he thought that it wasn’t quite a “guest” room anymore if the person staying inside couldn’t really leave.

There had been no change in Schneep’s condition in the two months since…well, they didn’t know exactly what happened. It wasn’t like Schneep could tell them. They’d tried everything to get some sort of reaction, anything, from him, but their efforts were in vain. It was like he was in a coma. One where your eyes were open and dripped static tears all the time.

Jack ran through the motions of checking on him. There’d been no change from yesterday. He was still lying on the bed in the exact same position. Jack had told the hospital that Schneep was on vacation, de-stressing indefinitely. He’d also used Schneep’s ID to get in and, well quite frankly, steal some medical supplies. There was an IV and a heart monitor, steadily beeping just like it had been doing for weeks now. Jack couldn’t shake the feeling that there was more he could be doing, but…god, he didn’t know. He didn’t know any sort of medical shit. He didn’t know anything about magic or the occult or whatever the fuck this was. Why couldn’t he actually _do_ something?

“Schneep,” he sighed. “I wish…I wish a lot of things. But I wish you hadn’t gone after him alone. I wish we were all together here now. _All_ of us.” He patted his shoulder. Maybe he could hear and feel him, somewhere in there. “Wake up soon. Please.” Then he turned and walked away, looking back one more time before turning off the lights and closing the door.

He left the room and started to turn down the hall, immediately running into JJ. He startled, backing up a couple steps. “Jesus, dude, you startled me. Didn’t hear your footsteps or anything. Did you want something?”

JJ was clutching a piece of paper tight to his chest. He was bouncing on his feet nervously, adjusting his mask with one hand. Quickly, as if he was trying not to talk himself out of it, he shoved the piece of paper toward Jack, then retreated a few steps down the hall.

Jack blinked, confused for a second before looking at the sheet of paper. There was cursive writing on it, which Jack recognized as JJ’s handwriting. He read the words: _Jack, I have been doing some thinking during these last few weeks, and I have decided that there is more I can do. I’ve been avoiding going home, simply because I have been scared of what happened there. But I can’t let that stop me from helping you any longer. I can’t stand by and watch my friends get picked off. So, if you will agree to accompany me, I would like to go back to my home. There are some heavier magick spells and magic books in the apartment above my shop that could be of use. I hadn’t thought the situation serious enough to consult them before, but now it’s clear that we are running out of options. Despite the risk, retrieving them could possibly shed some light on this horrid situation._

He looked back up at JJ. “You’re sure?” He asked. “I know how much it freaks you out to even think about going back there.”

JJ nodded once. He folded his arms. It was clear to Jack that he was still scared: his hands were shaking and he was avoiding looking directly at anything. But he was trying. He must’ve really thought this was worth it. “Alright, if you’re positive. I’ll get my jacket, it’s s’posed to be chilly today. Then we’ll walk down to the shop.”

It was indeed a cloudy and chill afternoon. It took Jack and JJ about forty-five minutes to get from Jack’s apartment building to the shop, walking swiftly, driven by nerves. Jack didn’t actually think they’d find anything there, but the lingering feeling of what-if made him wish he knew how to shoot a gun, like Chase.

When they finally reached the shop, the sight of the dark, dusty windows sent chills down their spines. It had been nearly seven months since either of them had set foot in there, and it looked abandoned. JJ fished about in his vest pocket before finding the keys. It took him a minute to unlock the door, as he kept shaking. The door creaked when it finally swung open, accompanied by the ringing of the bell that was supposed to announce customers. The inside of the shop was just as dark and dusty as the windows. Stacks of cobwebbed knickknacks cast eerie shadows on the walls.

“Oh god. This is fucking freaky,” Jack muttered. “Let’s hurry.” JJ nodded in agreement, and the two of them practically sprinted across the main body of the shop to the locked door that would lead upstairs. JJ once again took out his keys and unlocked the door, revealing a narrow staircase leading up. He gave Jack a worried look. “It-it’s okay,” Jack assured him. “We’re doing good so far. I’ll go up first.” The two of them vanished up the stairs. Once they were gone, the door closed behind them.

There was another door at the top, but this one didn’t have a lock. It swung open, and JJ’s hand immediately darted to the side, flicking the light switch on. The apartment matched the shop downstairs in decor, which was to say it looked like it belonged in a different time period. The 1920′s perhaps. The two of them had entered into a living-room sort of area, with a sofa and two chairs covered in dust. The curtains were drawn, so without the yellow light of the lamp dangling overhead, the room would have been completely dark.

“I don’t…see anything.” Jack’s eyes darted about, but it just seemed like a normal apartment, albeit a bit old-fashioned. “So, where are the things you need? On the bookshelves in here?”

JJ shook his head. He made a few signs—he was getting better at them, enough so that Jack could figure out he was saying something along the lines of _There’s a room down the hall._

“Well, then we should go look there, shouldn’t we?” Jack gave the living room one more look-over, then followed JJ down a hall to the left. There were three doors, two to the right and one to the left. That was the one JJ opened, darting inside the room. Jack was right behind him.

It was a storage room. Every wall had shelves full of items nailed to it, there were piles of books and boxes and chests stacked on the floor. Everything was labeled, organized meticulously. “Wow,” Jack breathed. “When you said you had a collection of magick items, this is more than I was expecting. What are we looking for?”

JJ promptly walked to the far end of the room, stopping next to a book pile, waving at them in a way that indicated that was what they were looking for. Jack nodded, joining him. He tilted his head to the side, reading the titles on the spines. Half of them he couldn’t pronounce, and of the half remaining he could only guess at what the titles meant. There was a label on top of the pile, a piece of paper folded over with the words _Strange Entities, Spells, and Phenomena: Research/Info (Magic)_ written on it. “Okay,” he said slowly. “There’s no way we can carry all these back to my apartment, so you’re gonna have to help me choose which ones to prioritize. Each of us can hold…uh, three or four, maybe five if we choose thinner ones? Let’s get started.”

A few minutes passed, wherein JJ and Jack sorted through the pile. Usually this involved Jack holding up a book for JJ to look at, and then he’d either shake his head, or take the book and thumb through the pages, _then_ either put it aside or nod to say they should take it. After a while of this, they narrowed it down to eight books that were important enough to take back. “Do you think we should take any of this stuff?” Jack indicated the objects on the shelves. JJ considered for a moment, then shook his head. He signed something that about meant _Not enough room, not worth it._

“Alright, then.” Jack grabbed four of the books. “Let’s go.” The two of them left the room, emerging into the hallway again.

The lights died.

Jack stopped dead in his tracks. He looked behind him to see JJ had done the same, his eyes wide. Jack wanted to say it was nothing, but they both knew better than that. “Just…be ready,” Jack whispered. JJ nodded shakily. Jack turned back around and crept down the hall. It felt like his eyes were going to burst out of their sockets, he was looking so hard, waiting for something to happen.

They reentered the living room. But it was different. There were things hanging from the ceiling, dangling from lengths of green thread. Jack looked closer and saw they were thin, silvery, bloodstained needles.

There was a muffled yelp, then a series of thumps behind him. Jack spun around and saw Jameson had fallen to the floor, dropping the books he’d been carrying, bracing himself against the nearest wall. His eyes were fixed on the needles overhead. “James? No no no, it’s okay, it’s fine!” Jack dropped his books in turn, rushing to Jameson’s side. “They can’t—they’re just—they’re not going to hurt you!”

A laugh echoed around the room, causing the needles to sway. “You don’t k̷n̸͠ow ̕͝t̸ḩ͟a͝t̵̶, Jackaboy.”

Jack’s shoulders raised at the mere sound of the voice. He resisted the urged to rub his throat, instead turning and looking back to the room. “Where are you?”

“Neither h̴e͢r͞ę̢͞ nor t͠h͏e͢͟͞r̸ę͝.” The voice was coming from everywhere at once, but it was also coming from nowhere at all. “But there’s s̷o͢m̢e̡on̷͡e̡͠ who’s been…h͏̧o̸pi̸͠n͞g͢͠ to see you two.”

Everything turned red for a moment. And when it cleared, there was Chase, sitting on one of the chairs, staring at them through the static film over his eyes. Jack inhaled sharply. He hadn’t seen him in person in months. And Jameson hadn’t seen him at all. Jack looked over to see him touching the spot where his mouth was under the mask, his eyes fixed on the stitching around Chase’s neck.

“Chase…” Jack said softly. “Are you…there?”

“I̧'m͡ ̛h̡ere͝.”

“That—that’s not what I meant.” Jack stood up, slowly. Chase mimicked his movements almost perfectly. “Do you remember? Please tell me you remember me, and Doc, and JJ.”

“I͏ remember̨ y͝ou͢. But w̕h̷y̶ ̷do̧ ̴you ma̢tter?̵” Chase held his hand out to the side, like he was waiting for someone to give him something. And suddenly there was a knife in his hand, formed out of thin air.

Jack felt his heart freeze in his chest. “Chase.” He raised his hands. “Please, don’t do anything stupid. Look, we’re not dangerous. You don’t have to do this.”

“H͟e͝ ̸toļd̨ m͠e t̶o.”

“Well, that doesn’t mean you have to do it!” Jack said, not bothering to mask the desperate note in his voice. “Chase, just…try and think for yourself. Do you really think it’s a good idea to—to do whatever it is he told you to do? You’re going to end up hurting someone. You’re gonna hurt someone who hasn’t done anything! I know you think that’s an evil thing to do. You shouldn’t do whatever he says, because he’ll tell you to do awful things. Please, Chase, do you really want to do this?”

For a moment, the static in his eyes seemed to clear a little. The hand holding the knife lowered a bit. Jack let himself hope. And then—

“Y̡es.”

The knife sailed through the air. Jack instinctively ducked away from it, but he hadn’t been the target. There was a wet thump, then what sounded like someone screaming with their mouth closed. Jack whirled around. Jameson was still sitting against the wall on the floor, but now his hands were wrapped around the blade that had lodged in his stomach. He looked at Jack, and there were tears in his eyes.

Something broke inside Jack’s heart. He spun back around, facing Chase again. “Is this really it?!” he shouted to the room at large. “You’re gonna send someone else to do your dirty work for you?”

“Well, w̶h͏y̷ s͏̕ḩ̕͞ơuld̴n'ţ͟ Į?̨” The voice returned, bouncing from corner to corner, breaking and distorting. “If I have a p̛͠͠up̡̛p̷̢e͏t̡̢, might as well u͟se̵ ͞h̸̨i̵m̵͏.”

“Why is it _him,_ though?” Jack demanded. “Why is it him, Anti?”

There was a slight pause. Then, Anti hissed, “He was the eąs̷̸ie̛s̷̢t̡͏ ͟͠one̷̕ to turn.”

Jack stared at Chase. He hadn’t moved since throwing the knife, his expression perfectly blank. Jack hated it. He would give anything for him to stop looking that way…he would give _everything_ for his friends to be back to normal. He took a deep, steadying breath. “Anti, do you know what’s even better than a puppet you had to turn?” He hesitated for a split second, then made his decision. “One that’s willingly joined you.”

Absolute silence. Jack didn’t look away from Chase. That is, until he heard some scrambling sounds behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see that Jameson had moved a couple feet toward him. One hand was still on the knife, still stuck in his torso, the other was reaching toward Jack. Jameson looked him in the eyes and shook his head. There were a few muffled sounds coming from underneath the mask, and Jack could guess that Jameson was doing his best to plead with him through the stitching. “It’ll be okay, JJ,” Jack said soothingly. “I—I know what I’m doing. Just make sure you don’t bleed to death or anything.”

“It will be b͢e̶̕t͡t̢̕e͠r̸̨ than okay.” Jack’s head whipped back around. He was here now. Or maybe he wasn’t quite here. His edges seemed…fuzzy, and patches of red, blue, and green were falling off his body in droves. He was grinning madly. “What are you ơ̢f̵f͏e͞ri͡n̛g̷ m̡͟e, Jackaboy?” Anti asked, stepping closer.

Jack fought the urge to take a few steps back. “I…I’ll take his place,” he said quietly. “I’ll take all their places. I’ll join you, I’ll let you do whatever the hell you want to me, but only if you let them all go.”

“How do I know you’re not l̵̸̡y̵͟i̶͢n͠͏̴g̷͟? How do I know you won’t tr̢͏y͞ ̴̨t͞͠o̴͢ ̶ru̡n̵̡ at the f̸̕ir͟şt̶͟͠ opp̡o̷r̡͢t̡͏͏un͢͞i͏t͡͡y͠͡?̷̧͠”

“I won’t! I…I swear it!” Jack swallowed. “On my life. On _their_ lives.”

Anti stared at him blankly, his eyes flickering between blue and green, the open throat gushing blood through the string straining to keep it closed. Then his grin widened. “Alrig̶hţ,” he said, voice crackling. He disappeared, then was suddenly right in front of Jack. “A ͡͠d̷ea͢͡l̕'s͏͟ ͡͏̴a ͝ḑe̷̵a͟ļ̵.” Before Jack could argue or demand more, Anti grabbed him by the shoulders. A wave of neon, glitching distortion spread from his hands, enveloping Jack’s body in seconds. When the glitches faded away, Jack was gone.

Jameson cried out, the sound turned into a mumble. No, no, no Jack didn’t—he couldn’t have—that was so stupidly heroic, didn’t he know it wouldn’t work? That he’d just give himself up for nothing?

Anti turned his attention to him. He smiled triumphantly. “Ḩ͞a͠v̡̕͟e͏ ̢f̧ưn̷̛.” He pointed to the ceiling, then wiggled his fingers in a cheery wave before he and Chase disappeared.

Jameson looked up. The needles were still hanging from the ceiling, but they were jittering, moving. The threads holding them were flickering in and out of existence—

He barely had time to curl into a ball, flinging his arms over the back of his head and neck before the threads vanished altogether, sending the needles crashing to the floor in a wave of silvery death. He cried out again as he felt the sharp jabs, the thin piercing pains, all over his arms and back. The gently metallic sound of needles hitting the hardwood floor was all he could hear. And then, as quickly as it started, it was done.

He stayed in that position for a while longer. Not just because moving caused the needles to jingle and the knife still inside him to stab deeper, but because he was scared. Was he alone? Or was Anti still there? Eventually, he found his courage, slowly lowering his arms and raising his head. The apartment looked empty. And it felt empty…too empty.

Jameson really was alone.

* * *

Hours later, he’d managed to make it back to Jack’s apartment. Thank god Jack had given him a key, otherwise he’d be forced to find other accommodations, since there was no way in hell he was staying back at the shop. He’d managed to get most of the needles out back there, but he’d kept the knife in until he had access to the medical supplies Jack kept in the bathroom. He didn’t want to bleed out. Once back at the apartment he’d double-checked for needles, pulling out the last of them. Most of his backside and his arms were covered in tiny holes that thankfully hadn’t bled much, but still required bandaging. He’d also finally treated the massive stab wound, though pulling out the knife hurt almost as much as it being buried in there in the first place.

After he’d managed to do that, he checked on Schneep. Just as he suspected, he was in the same condition as before. Anti had lied. He hadn’t let the others go, he’d just taken Jack. No doubt he was laughing at him for believing he’d ever relinquish an inch of control.

And Jameson was angry. No, he was furious. At Anti. He was still terrified of him, of course, but now it was mixed with a rage he’d never felt before. Anti thought he cheat and manipulate and hurt without consequences. He thought he could take his friends from him and get away with it. Well, he was wrong.

Jameson had the presence of mind to grab four of the books he and Jack had originally set out looking for before leaving the shop. Now, he sat at Jack’s kitchen table with one of them open before him, carefully reading the pages and trying to push through the pain in his abdomen that would shoot agony up his chest whenever he moved. There had to be something, anything, in here. A tiny hint as to what, exactly, Anti was, the mere mention of a way to defeat a thing like him. The windows grew dark, and still he read, still he studied.

There was nothing in the first book. Nothing he could use. Sure, maybe he saw some spells that could help, but he was magickal, not magical. Magick just needed certain charged items, specific rituals to follow to make something happen. Anyone could use magick. But spells, enchantments, curses, jinxes…for those you needed a certain amount of pure talent, a bit of magic in your soul that you had to be born with. And if you weren’t born with it? Sucks to be you.

Jameson slammed the book shut, then slammed his forehead onto the kitchen table. He still had three books to go, but he had a feeling they were all like this. Plenty of useful and interesting information, but nothing to shed light on his current predicament. Many powerful spells and hexes, but nothing he could actually use.

Why had he ever thought this would be a good idea? Why had he ever believed he would actually be able to do anything? Why did he think ever he was useful?

He raised his head. Those…weren’t his thoughts. Actually, they were, but…they were the same sort of things Anti had said to him so many months ago. The things that this demon, or whatever he was, _wanted_ him to think. And thoughts like this had been plaguing him ever since then. He was thinking of himself the way Anti thought of him.

Jameson sat up straight, placing his hands palm-down on the table. These thoughts…they just wouldn’t do. If he let himself think this way, how was he better than Anti? He certainly wasn’t helping anyone. He was just letting Anti win. And that was not something he could do. Anti could not get to him. And if Anti thought he was weak and useless and all those other things, then he’ll have to prove him wrong.

He closed his eyes. He wasn’t worthless. His friends needed him, now more than ever. And he wouldn’t let Anti get between him and saving them. It could not happen. He would save them. He _would_ save them. _He would save them he_ _ **would** save them h **e would save them—**_

Something snapped.

That was the best way to describe it. It wasn’t a bad sort of snap, like a heartstring breaking. It was like the snap of chains breaking free. His eyes flew open, and his world was glowing blue.

He looked down at his hands on the table. The light blue glow was coming from them. Or, more accurately, the rings that had appeared around them. They were flat, concentric circles that reminded him a bit of that hero movie Chase had made him watch one day. Between the rings of each circle were…runes. The language of magic and magick. Or at least, one of the languages, there were multiple runic alphabets one could use. These runes were dancing, running around the circles. He recognized a few of them: _save, protect, guard, friendship, loyal, soul, rescue._

He raised his hands. The rings stayed with them. He thought about them growing bigger. They did, changing from the size of dinner plates to the size of trash bin lids, the glow flaring in turn. He wished for them to disappear, and they winked out of existence. He wished for them to return, and they faded back in.

This wasn’t possible. He’d tried magic spells before, they hadn’t worked. He thought he wasn’t magic. But apparently he’d been wrong. Maybe he just needed some proper motivation. Maybe he just needed something—or someone—to fight for.

JJ was smiling. Under the mask, he was honest-to-god smiling. The motion was pulling at the stitching, and he welcomed it. It had been so long.

No more listening to Anti. No more waiting on the sidelines, not even trying, because he thought he couldn’t do it. He could do it. He was going to save his friends.


	8. Severing the Strings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On his own, but now newly prepared, JJ goes to get the others back.

The time came. A month had passed, and JJ was sure he was as prepared as he could be. He’d practiced with this new…magic, or whatever it was, and he’d reached a point where he thought it was good enough. Maybe he still didn’t fully understand it, but he couldn’t wait any longer. He was the last man standing; everyone else had been taken out. It was his job to get them back, and he’d start by going after Jack.

It was Halloween. JJ decided to set off in the middle of the afternoon, when there was still daylight. He made a few last preparations in Jack’s apartment: storing the four books of magic away, making sure all the windows were shut and locked, and checking on Schneep one last time (no change there.) Then he grabbed his mask and left, locking the apartment door behind him.

Once he was outside Jack’s apartment building, JJ ducked into the nearest alley where he couldn’t be seen. There, he took a few steadying breaths, and held his hands out in front of him like he was holding a plate on his fingertips. A blue circle spun into existence, the runes inside reading along the lines of _seek, search, find._ JJ dropped his hands, but the circle remained, spinning faster and faster before shooting off out the alley and down the street, at about the running speed of the average man. JJ sprinted after it.

After the month of experimentation, JJ had drawn the conclusion that his new magic wasn’t exactly like magic should be. For one, the most powerful spells required words and/or devices to channel the energy, like a wand. He hadn’t once needed anything like that. Thankfully, in the case of the spellwords. But more importantly, he couldn’t really use traditional spells. He tried several simple ones for everything from heating up water to moving a glass across the table. They didn’t require anything more than focus and intent, but when he tried them, nothing happened. It took him a while to realize nothing would work unless he thought about how these spells could help others. In fact, than seemed to be the key to unlocking this power. As long as he focused on helping, there didn’t seem to be many other limitations. Besides that specific part, the rules were basically “something more difficult or complicated will take more time and energy,” but that was a fundamental rule of magic.

After figuring all this out, JJ had concluded that he had no idea what exactly this magic was or where it had come from. But he wasn’t about to push it away, not when it could help stop this demon attacking him and his friends.

The streets were pretty empty as he followed the tracking spell through the city. Occasionally there was a person or two who would give him an odd look, or who would gape at the blue glowing disc flying through the city, but JJ didn’t have time to stop. He ran after the tracker, following it to the north part of the city. It darted around buildings, heading steadily towards the city’s edge. Gradually the regular apartment and office buildings gave way to industrial-type structures, including several large warehouses. JJ half-expected the tracker to head to one of those, but instead it took a sharp left and stopped in front of a low building with concrete walls. Cables ran out of metal boxes along the sides and out of the top, and JJ, having never known a lot about industry, could only guess at what this building was originally for.

The tracker disappeared through the building’s single metal door, heading inside. JJ tried pushing and pulling, but the door was locked. Of course it was. Luckily, he thought he could handle this. He grabbed the door handle and closed his eyes. The tracker said his friend was on the other side, and that meant he had to get through, and that meant the door had to unlock. Small blue runes began circling the handle, and after a few seconds there was a faint clicking sound and the door swung inward.

The tracker was hovering inside, waiting for him. But it wasn’t waiting for long, as it immediately started going again, forcing JJ to duck around tall pillars wrapped in wires and jump over electrical boxes that had fallen off the walls to the floor. The tracker went through another door, which JJ unlocked the same as before. Behind it, there were stairs leading down. They were completely dark, but somewhere far below there was red light. The tracker spun downward, slowed down to barely ahead of him. He stepped carefully, the blue glow from the spell barely lighting up his way. Until he finally reached the bottom, and stared down a red hallway.

Immediately, he knew this place was unnatural. It wasn’t just the dangling red bulbs lighting the way, it wasn’t just the rusted metal walls and floor, it wasn’t just the fact that these halls were twisting and turning, branching out and curving in a giant maze. It was the white spots on the walls too. Or at least, that’s what he thought they were at first. Until, curious, he stepped closer, and the spots blinked. They were eyes, embedded in the metal walls. Staring at him. He jumped backwards, pressing his back against the other side of the hall, until he felt the metal shift behind him and jumped right into place, ending up in the exact middle of the hall. Everywhere he looked, there were eyes on the walls. And they were watching him, tracking his movements as he walked. Shudders ran down his spine, but he kept going, following the spell.

As the tracker led him through the narrow halls of the maze, something began humming in the background. Static. There were no TV screens or speakers in sight, and that just made it even eerier. He hated it. He kept looking down the branching passageways, expecting to see the faded shape of the man. The tracker was slowing down, and that meant he was getting close. He didn’t know if that was good or bad, given that he was also getting closer to the white noise.

Finally, he came upon a metal door at the end of a hall. The tracker attached itself to the door and then faded out of existence. JJ’s heart was pounding. He could barely let himself hope. He unlocked the door in the same way he’d unlocked the ones upstairs. It swung inward, and the sound of the static intensified. He instinctively flinched backward, but then forced himself to go inside the room. The door swung shut behind him, and when he turned around he saw that this side of the door didn’t have a handle. He told himself that was fine, that he could open it another way. But it still sent a small wave of panic through his mind.

Not right now. There were more important things to worry about. He turned back to the room at large. It was fairly small, maybe seven or eight feet square. TV screens were mounted to the walls, showing blank static that was the only source of light in the room. JJ stared at them for a while. The noise was actually…kind of…he quickly shook his head. Lesson learned: don’t look at the screens. A bit difficult since they were everywhere. Except for one spot on the far wall…where Jack was.

JJ rushed to his side. He was wearing the same clothes he had worn a month ago, except now they were torn, the edges of the tears caked in blood. There were green strings wrapped around his wrists and forearms, holding them up and away from each other. He was kneeling on the floor, more strings wrapping his legs together. He seemed to be sleeping, or unconscious. Maybe that was because of the slice across his neck, which was bleeding freely but not as much as it should have.

For a moment, Jameson feared the worst, until he noticed Jack’s chest was rising and falling slowly. He sighed in relief, then reached forward and began gently shaking him. Please, don’t make this a Schneep situation. Please, be able to wake up.

A small whimper. It was the sort of sound that could tear a heart in half, but it meant Jack was alive and at least a little aware. Jameson watched his eyes flicker open. Except, only one really did. His right socket was empty, the eyelid having a crust of blood on its edges. His left was working correctly, though, and it focused on Jameson. He stared at him for a while, then opened his mouth and said in a raspy voice, “JJ? What’re you doin’ here?”

Jameson slumped in relief, then made a single sign. _Rescue._

It took Jack a while to decode that. “Wha…?” he shook his head, slowly. “No, you…can’t do that. I gotta stay…stay here.”

JJ’s brows furrowed in confusion. _What do you mean?_

“I just…gotta. It’s how…everything’s gonna be fine…” His eyelids started to flutter close again.

JJ hit the side of his face gently until his eyes opened again. Then he made a few more signs that essentially meant, _You’re in danger here. I have to get you out, where it’s safe._

“’M not in danger…an’ if I was…then why’re you here? In danger place…”

_To get you out!_

Jack’s eye flicked toward one of the many TV screens. “I can’t leave…I gotta stay here…it’ll be okay…”

Ah. Jameson was starting to get it. The static from these TV screens was messing with Jack’s mind, making him want to stay. He wasn’t going to cooperate. So JJ would have to work around that. He gave up on trying to convince Jack and turned his attention to the strings. The ones on his arms were buried in the wall, but the ones on his legs seemed to be not attached to anything. So he’d have to break the ones on the wall or they won’t get anywhere. He grabbed the one around Jack’s right arm, the one nearest to him, and concentrated. Come on, magic, his friend was trapped and hurt and needed to get out. Two glowing blue circles flickered into existence, and sliced the string apart without much difficulty.

“Wha’re you doin’…?”

JJ didn’t listen to him, just repeated the process on the other arm, letting it fall. But when he tried to cut the strings on his legs, Jack shoved him away. It wasn’t a very strong shove, but it did the job. Jack started frantically pulling on the ends of the severed strings, like that could make them form back together.

Jameson stood up, putting his hands on his hips as he surveyed this scene. Alright, if they were going to do it that way. Jameson bent over and wrapped his arms around Jack’s torso, forcibly pulling him away from the wall.

“No! Stop! You don’ understand!”

He understood enough. He understood that Jack needed to get out of this room. Even if that meant he had to drag him out by himself. Jack kicked and flailed and screamed at Jameson to let him go, to let him stay here, and Jameson did his best to get him to stay still while also lugging him across the room. Once they reached the door without a handle, Jameson had to let go so he could put one hand against the door and instruct it to open. He nearly lost his grip of Jack when that happened, but after a few seconds the door creaked open inward. He grabbed the edge of it and pulled it all the way open. They were nearly out. The static was growing louder. It was starting to sound nice…calming…just relax, there was no harm in staying in the room for a little while longer…

With one final burst of energy, JJ pulled Jack through the doorway and back out into the hall, promptly falling on the ground as he’d overestimated just how much energy was needed. For a moment, he just stayed there. And then Jack said, softly, but with great emotion, “What the fuck…”

JJ pushed himself back into a sitting position. Jack was also sitting, staring through the still-open door and into the room with horror on his face. Jameson stood up, then reached forward and pulled the door shut with a slam. The static abruptly cut off entirely.

Jack still stared at the door. He pulled his knees close to his body and started to wrap his arms around them, but recoiled when he realized the green string was still wrapped around his legs. “JJ, I’m so sorry. Tha’ was stupid. This—this whole plan of mine was stupid. I jus'—he didn’ even—I ended up—I played right into his hands and it was fucking _stupid._ ” Tears were forming in his eyes. Or rather, his eye and his socket.

JJ knelt by his side, shaking his head vigorously. _You could not know,_ he signed quickly. _You did what you thought was best. And it all worked out in the end. That’s why I came here, to make everything right._

Jack sniffed. “You sure improved on those while I’ve been stuck here.”

 _Thank you._ JJ grabbed the string around Jack’s legs. Just as he suspected, it wouldn’t come off. So he once again used this new magic to cut through them, to Jack’s wide eyed surprise. Then he placed a hand on Jack’s neck, right by the cut that was now bleeding much faster, and blue runes appeared out of nowhere, sealing it until there was just a scar left. He repeated the process wherever there was a tear or a stain in Jack’s clothing, assuming there were similar injuries under them. After he was done, he looked toward Jack and signed, _Did I get them all?_

“Uh…yeah. I mean, except…” Jack gestured to his empty socket.

JJ nodded, gently placing his hand on Jack’s face near the emptiness in question. This may be a bit more difficult, but magic, his friend needed to see. Slowly, the socket began to fill up with glowing runes, that grew in number until it was basically a glowing blue orb. Then the glow faded away, and there was a new eye. It was a slightly brighter shade of blue than the other, almost unnaturally so, but as Jack blinked and glanced about it was clear that it worked just fine.

“Oh my god…” Jack breathed. He hadn’t expected to ever see the world like this again. It was surprisingly rather strange. “JJ, how…how the hell did you do that? I thought you said you didn’t have powers.”

 _I didn’t,_ JJ admitted. _But after he took you, something…changed. It’s not like normal magic, but I’m sure it is magic of some sort._

Jack clambered to his feet. He felt great. Still not a hundred percent, there was still aches and pains all over, and he was tired and a bit dizzy, but this was the best he’d felt in…a while. “Well, whatever it is, it’s a fucking miracle. So, y’know, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth. Now…um, where are we?”

JJ stood up. _Under a building in the north of town. This is a maze._

“Okay. That’s…great. And, uh, what day is it?”

_October 31st._

“Oh, Halloween.” Jack said this to dampen the shock of being gone for a whole month. “And…is there a particular reason why I feel like someone’s watching me right now?”

_The walls have eyes._

“That’s…not really an answer, you’re just sayin’ someone’s watching us, but I want to know who.”

JJ shook his head. _I mean the walls have eyes._ He pointed to the nearest wall. Jack squinted, then gasped as he saw them. It already looked wrong to begin with, but every single one was focused on them. Until, suddenly, they snapped close in unison.

“What…does that mean?” Jack almost didn’t want to ask.

 _It means we are out of time._ JJ then made a strange gesture, like he was holding an imaginary plate. A blue disc made of lines and runes spun into existence, then started soaring away. JJ grabbed Jack by the hand and pulled him after him as he raced to follow the disc. Jack stumbled before finding his stride. It wasn’t long before he was panting heavily; he hadn’t run in a long, long time, and his legs felt wobbly. But he understood they had to hurry.

Jameson wasn’t kidding when he said this place was a maze. The halls twisted and turned, and there were no visual landmarks or anything to tell them where they were going. Just endless rusted metal walls, endless red bulbs dangling overhead. If they didn’t have the disc guiding them, Jack was sure they would have hit a dozen dead ends and gotten hopelessly lost.

“How do we know…when we’re getting…close to the end?” Jack asked between gasps for breath.

“Y̸ơ͠u̧͠ d̴on̴͠'̶t̸̕.”

They turned a corner and had to skid to a halt. Just another narrow corridor, except someone was in the way. Someone in a snap-back cap, with static clouding his eyes and green stitches on his wrists and neck. His arms were folded, and he stayed perfectly still even when the blue disc passed right through him. 

“Chase…” Jack breathed. So it was true. Anti had gloated about it during the past month, about how Jack had fallen for a bad deal. And he was right. Jack glanced around. Anti himself was nowhere to be seen, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t watching. He thought about calling him out for sending someone else to do his dirty work, but that hadn’t ended well last time. So instead, he turned to Chase. And…fuck, he had to try again. “…you don’t want to do this, dude. Please.”

“Y̢es̡ ̴I̢ ͞d̕o.” A knife appeared in his hand again, just like last time. Before he could do anything with it, JJ had pushed Jack behind him and held out his hands. A glowing blue circle burst into existence, big enough to cover the two of them. A shield.

Mad laughter rang throughout the hall. “Looks like our s̷̴il̨͟ȩ͢n̡t̛ friend has got some new t̡͝r̴įck̕s̡̕͡ ̸u͢p̵ ̷͟hi̸̡s̷̸ ͏͝͏s̢l̶eȩ̶͢v̵҉͞e. Let’s se̵e̸̢ wh̶̛͠at̢ ̕̕g̷o̵͢o̴ḑ͝͠ they do him.”

Chase threw the knife, but it clattered off the magic shield and fell to the floor. He didn’t seem upset by that. He just took a few steps to the side and disappeared in a fit of glitches. And for a moment, Jack wondered where he’d gone, until JJ suddenly threw him to the side and moved the shield to behind them. Just in time to parry Chase’s running attack with yet another knife. It glanced off the shield and Chase stumbled back.

“Are you insane?!” Jack cried. “You’re really doing this?! Attacking people with knives, just because someone else tells you to? You’re not even thinking, just blindly following! Since when have you been a follower, Chase?”

“Long̵e̛r̶ t͏h̶an yơu ̧th͡ink̡,” Chase replied monotonously. He flipped the knife into a different position, more of a slash than a stab this time.

“…maybe that’s true,” Jack admitted. “Maybe it is. But even followers have a reason. What is yours for listening to this guy, huh?”

Jack blinked, and for a moment…things looked different. The colors seemed to have faded from the world, except for a few places. JJ’s magic was one. The knife Chase was holding was another, suddenly sickly green in color. And also…in the center of JJ’s chest, there was a blue glowing light, the same color as the magic. Chase had one too, except this one was yellow, and had a few green strings wrapped around it, trailing to the floor and snaking away down the corridor. Jack looked down at his own chest and saw a bright, cheerful green light. Then he blinked again and everything was back to normal.

Things continued on like nothing had happened. “He'̨s͏ my ̵f͡r͡i̛e̢nd͝,” Chase mumbled, then swiped at the shield with the knife. This time, blue sparks flew.

“Did you see that?” Jack hissed to JJ.

JJ briefly looked away from the shield in order to give Jack an odd look. A wave of confusion swept through Jack’s mind. Had nobody else seen…?

Another slash with the knife, and the shield flickered and died. Jameson jumped out of the way as Chase swiped again, then conjured up a smaller version of the shield with slightly different runes. When the knife hit this one, it stuck to it, bands of blue light wrapping around the blade. Chase grinned, an insane sight, and started twisting the knife.

Jack was still concerned with the strange…sight, or whatever it was. He felt like it was on the edge of his vision, like he could still sort of see it. Then he thought about something. On impulse, he closed his left eye, leaving the right eye, the eye that JJ had magically created, the only way to see. Sure enough, the wight was back, black and white but for the knife, the magic, and the lights in their chests. And the strings binding Chase’s. As Jack looked at them, a hunch started to develop.

A horrible screeching sound brought him back to reality. The shield was once again letting off sparks, these ones orange and in greater number. JJ was concentrating on keeping the shield in place, beads of sweat dripping down his face. Chase was still twisting the knife, burrowing it deeper in the magic shield, which was emitting the screeching.

Jack leaned toward JJ and whispered, “Hey, you know that spell you used to cut through the strings back in the screen room?”

JJ gave him a distressed look that said, _Is this really the time right now?_

“Just trust me. Do you think you can modify it to break strings that…aren’t really totally there?”

JJ looked confused, but gave a slight nod.

“Okay, good. When the shield drops, I want you to cast that at Chase immediately. _Trust me,_ I got an idea. Okay?”

JJ didn’t have time to agree, because at that moment the shield broke apart, turning orange in its final moments before shattering. Chase gave an empty laugh, and lunged to stab with the knife.

Jameson threw up his hands, and four glowing blue discs bolted into existence before slicing right through Chase. They left no mark, but Chase froze in place like someone pressed the pause button. The knife clanged to the metal floor. His eyes were wide, and the static in them was flickering. Then after a few seconds, Chase fell to the floor, landing face-down.

Jack scrambled to kneel beside him. “Chase? Chase are you there?” He rolled Chase over onto his back. His eyes were still slightly clouded, but much less so. His mouth was opening and closing without words, and he was shaking. He had a look of vague terror on his face, like he was caught between a monster on one side and a yawning chasm on the other. Jack closed his left eye again and saw that most of the strings around Chase’s light had been severed, but there were still a few threads remaining. What’s more, the severed green strings were inching their way back toward Chase like dangerous snakes.

It wasn’t enough. He had to help him.

“Chase, please, I need you to come back to us,” he said, reaching out and grasping one of Chase’s hands with his own. “We miss you. I…I miss you. We want our friend back. And I’m sure you want the same thing.”

Chase gasped. “Th-th-th̸ey-th̨ey’re ̢d-ḑead͠,” came stuttering out of his mouth.

“We’re not—” Jack cut himself off as he finally realized what he meant. “Oh…no, Chase, Jackie and Marvin aren’t dead. Remember? He took them. The guy—the _demon_ you’ve been listening to for months now. He took them, and he won’t give them back. We need to find them. We need to rescue them. But we can’t do that if you’re like this, okay? We can’t do it without you.”

“ I ̵j-j̴ust͠—I j-j-̢j̡-͏j̨ust͠—” Chase began seizing up, limbs starting to thrash about on their own. JJ knelt beside him, placing one hand on his chest and another on his forearm to steady him. “I̛ j̢-just want ͏m-̡m̸y friend͏s back.”

The sad, utterly despairing tone in Chase’s voice just broke Jack. He started crying, and he let it happen. “And we’ll get them back,” he promised. “But Chase…we’re your friends too. You’re not alone. Maybe we didn’t do the best job supporting you, or maybe we weren’t…the best at seeing what you’re going through. But damn, we tried. We’re still trying. We’re ready to catch you if you fall, if you’ll tell us when you feel like you’re teetering on the edge. We’ll always be. Please, Chase. Please come back. We miss you, so fucking much. I can’t tell you how much sleep we lost when you first went missing. Or how many times I’ve just…felt like giving up because the idea of you being in pain, has—has _wrecked_ me. Damn it, Chase, we care about you. We care a whole lot, and it hurts to see you like this. Let us help you. Please. We want to.”

For a moment, nothing happened. Chase suddenly became very still. He closed his eyes, and tears started to flow from them. Then he gasped, and bolted upright. His eyes flew back open, and they were clear. The clearest they’ve been in months. No more static. And when Jack closed his left eye to confirm, there were no more strings around Chase’s light.

“Chase?” Jack asked tentatively.

He looked to him, then looked to JJ. “…hi?” he said.

“Chase!” Jack smiled and threw his arms around his friend.

Chase stiffened, yelped, then pushed Jack away. “Okay, okay, I’d appreciate if you…didn’t do that. Please.”

“Oh. Okay.” That was a bit weird. But he’d accept it. “Fuck, dude, you’re—you’re back! God! I was so scared. But I never gave up, and neither did Hen, and neither did—JJ, you never gave up, did you?” JJ shook his head. “See?! God, it’s so good to have you back.”

“Uh, w-well…” Chase seemed to be examining himself, looking at his pale arms and the bruises on them, picking at the stitching around his wrists and neck. “It’s good to be back, ha. Did you…did you really mean all that? What you said?”

“Of course I did!” Jack couldn’t stop smiling. “Jesus, what kind of asshole would I have to be, pulling on your heartstrings like that and not saying it for real?” Chase flinched. “Oh, uh, s-sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. But! I did pour my heart out to you! And every last bit of it was true, I promise.”

Chase smiled at that. It was small, but it was there, and that was what mattered. “Well. That’s…that means a lot to me, man. Thank you.”

“How t̡̮̳͔o̯̲͇̣͇̕ͅu̱̖̠̗͉̱͓c̶̞̼h̶̫͍̱̪͝i͖͠ņ͏̠̹̻͍̗̘̗ͅg̴̙͓̰̠̬̜̖͢.”

At the sound of that echoing voice, all three of the boys jumped. JJ scrambled to his feet and Jack did the same, pulling Chase up behind him.

“I hope you just c̨̮̲̳̩̦͎̙̞̲͠͝ẖ͕͓̝͢ḛ̙̭͔͕̬͕̗r̝̹͇̦̯̳̖̕ͅi̳̬̗̬̩s̤̦̫͖͉̝̕h̴̩͇̱͕̜̻ t͢͠h̷̕a̴̴͞t̸ ̕͟m̴̕o̴m̛͟e͠n͡͝t̶.” Anti sounded…bitter. “Because it’ll be the last moment you have for a v̷e̢̕ry̴̨ l͢͞o̴̶̧n͢g̶̛̕ t̴͢i̕͡m͡e̛͝.”

The previously silent corridors were filled with a hum. No, it wasn’t a hum. It was a roar of white noise, and it was coming toward them.

“Maybe I’ll make you forget it altogether. I haven’t planned that yet. But trust me when I say I have planned your s͏̘̹̘̥̞̞̹u͓̜̠̙͠ͅf̜̼͎̬̲͎̯͖͎͠f̪͡e̷͎̙̲̩͍͈̞r͖͓͎̩̕i̷̲̕ͅn͏̖̠g̨̨͕̘͍ for a seeming e͟t̷ę͡͞r̛͠͏n̶̸į̧t͟͏y̕͢͞ now.”

“We gotta run,” Chase muttered, pulling on Jack’s arm.

“But we don’t know where we’re going—!”

“I have this place memorized by now, trust me on this!”

Jack and JJ exchanged looks, and simultaneously decided that it was better than getting lost and eventually caught. “Lead the way, then!” Jack said. Chase nodded, then dashed away, leaving the other two to follow.

“Run if you want, pưp̸p̴͠ȩ͡͞t̴̡. You and the others will be m̶͠i̧n̛ȩ ą͠gai̸n̢͡ s̸o̶̢͡o̸͠n̕͏ ̡̨e̷n̸̡̢ơug̵̷̷h̶͡.”

And with that ringing in their ears, they ran.

It was a mad chase. Through twists and turns and curves and winding halls, pursued by the ever-growing roar. But Chase did seem to know where to go, and the other two followed him without hesitation. Until, finally, they came to a set of stairs leading up into darkness. “Up!” Chase cried, and they climbed and climbed and climbed until they burst into a room of electrical equipment, which they tripped over until they made it to the door. Chase pulled it open and dashed outside, followed by JJ and then Jack. The three of them turned around to see a sight. What looked like water, but made of buzzing, blurring, three dimensional static, chasing after them in waves. Chase slammed the door shut. It shook with the force of the static water hitting it, but eventually all calmed down.

Chase stared at the others with wide eyes. “I don’t know if he’ll send more after us. We need to get somewhere safe, fast.”

JJ nodded, then gestured for the others to follow him.

* * *

“We’re really just back at may apartment after all this? Really?” Jack said this only after entering his apartment and plopping, absolutely exhausted, onto the couch. Chase collapsed next to him.

 _I set up some more complex wards,_ JJ signed, the only one remaining standing. _I figured I could, now that I have this new power._

“Yeah, where did that come from anyway?” Chase asked, pulling off his hat. His hair was a tangled mess underneath.

JJ shrugged. _I haven’t figured it out yet. But it hasn’t failed me when it counts yet. Do…either of you need anything._

“I’m…hungry…” Chase immediately flinched after saying the words, like he expected one of the others to yell at him. Of course they didn’t.

 _Naturally,_ JJ signed. _Jack, you don’t mind if I use your kitchen?_

“Nah, go ahead.”

JJ disappeared into the other room, leaving Jack and Chase alone on the couch. Chase kept picking at the stitching around his neck. After a few moments sitting in silence, he turned to Jack and said, “I hate this.”

“You mean the stitches? Yeah…I do too. And I’m just looking at them, I can’t imagine having them on me.” Jack shuddered. “But if they’re anything like JJ’s, we won’t be able to get them out.”

“Fuck.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself.”

More silence. They could hear Jameson in the other room, messing about in the cabinets. Once again, Chase broke the dead air: “I’m…sorry. That any of this happened to you. Or to JJ. Shit, I _stabbed_ him. I just remembered that, I gotta go—”

“Sit back down.” Jack pulled Chase back onto the couch. “You can tell him when he gets back. You…you look horrible, man. I’m honestly surprised you managed to walk all the way back here without falling to the ground and scraping your face on the sidewalk. So, the two of us are gonna sit here, and we’re gonna recuperate.” He didn’t say anything for a moment. “And…it’s not your fault any of this happened. Not even the stab thing. You weren’t yourself. And we all know who’s really to blame.”

Chase nodded. “Anti,” he growled.

“We’re gonna get him back, Chase. For what happened to us, and JJ, and Schneep, and Jackie and Marvin, wherever they are. He’s gonna lose, ‘cause we can’t let him win.”

Chase leaned back into the couch, satisfied with this for the time being. Then he bolted upright again, his hand suddenly clutching a spot on his chest. He looked at Jack with wide eyes and said:

“Shit. We gotta fix Doc.”


	9. No Strings on Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chase has to adjust to some new...changes since he's come back.

Chase was in the bathroom. The bathroom of Jack’s apartment, to be exact. Sitting in the empty bathtub, to be even more exact. Jack and JJ thought it would be best if they all stayed together, and, well, Chase agreed. He didn’t want to go back to a big, empty home. He didn’t want to be alone. But he didn’t exactly want to see the others right now, not after they’d caught him up on everything he’d missed while he was…away.

He scowled. “Away.” That was the word Jack used. He was hesitant to use a stronger one. Honestly, what word would even fit? Kidnapped? Evil? Being used? Something that meant all of those at once? Chase pulled his knees up to his chest and looked down. An instinctive position. Curling up like this protected the face and the most sensitive body parts. He stayed like that, thinking back on the events earlier that day, after they’d all managed to get back to the apartment.

JJ had made dinner. Apparently he’d gotten familiar with the layout of the kitchen in the month he’d been alone. But even that, even something as simple as eating dinner had proven to be a challenge for the three of them. Jack had immediately scarfed it down, but he hadn’t been able to eat much before he started to feel nauseous. He’d excused himself, practically rushing to the bathroom. That just left Chase, picking at his food, with JJ.

“Hey, uh…” Chase didn’t look directly at JJ, but he did look in his general direction. “How did you get around the, um…” He gestured to JJ’s mask. “I mean, with the doc…well, I don’t know exactly what’s up with him now, but…he’s not doin’ his job at the hospital, I know that much. So how…?”

In answer, Jameson had stood up, walked over to one of the kitchen cabinets, opened it and taken out what looked like a fat syringe. He waved it at Chase, then put it back and sat back down inside.

“Oh,” Chase said, surprised. “I thought…I mean, you have to get those from the hospital, and you…need good reason. Did you…make something up to tell them?”

Jameson shook his head, folding his arms in an uncomfortable manner. At that moment, Jack walked back into the room. “Hey, I heard that last part,” he said. “And, uh, well, Hen’s ID wasn’t deactivated, since they think he’s just on vacation, so…it still works to open the doors and stuff.”

“You’re _stealing_ the shots from the hospital?” Chase asked, raising an eyebrow.

“I mean, what else are we supposed to do? We can’t let JJ starve to death because of what that fucking demon did.” Jack took his seat at the table again. “And speaking of starving to death, I thought…I thought you said you were hungry. You haven’t touched your food yet.”

“I’ve been touching it.” Chase stabbed his fork into the chicken, as if to prove this point.

“That doesn’t mean you’ve been eating it.”

Chase looked away. “I mean…I think what just happened to you is proof that…I dunno, hard to adjust again.”

“Chase.” The tone in Jack’s voice was enough to make Chase look back at him again. The new, brighter blue eye gave his stare an almost lopsided appearance. “You’re gonna have to at least try. You look like hell, and I can tell you’ve lost a lot of weight. You’re not gonna get better again if you don’t eat.”

He tried, really he did, but he just…”Can you…tell me that I can?”

“You don’t need permiss—” Chase didn’t say anything, just gave stared at him with a pleading expression. Jack’s eyes widened, and he leaned back slightly. “Yeah…yeah, you can eat.” Chase’s shoulders immediately slumped in relief, and he didn’t have any trouble from that point on.

What happened after they ate, though, was tough to get through. Chase demanded to see Schneep. He wasn’t sure what state he was in now, and he needed to know. Jack and JJ had exchange a worried glance at his demands, but they still showed him to the guest room where Schneep was…staying.

He didn’t know what he expected. But it wasn’t this. This still, limp body, with eyes blocked out by static that overflowed into tears. He’d been hooked up to an IV and a heart monitor, also presumably stolen from the hospital. And he was still wearing the same clothes he’d been that day. Chase sat down hard in the chair the others had placed next to the bed. This was somehow worse than all the scenarios he’d been imagining. No change at all hurt more than seeing things get worse.

“Hey, doc,” he whispered, reaching out and grabbing his hand. It was warm, which surprised him. “I’m sorry about all this.” He turned back towards Jack and JJ, who were hovering in the doorway. “Has it…has it been like this the whole time?”

Jack nodded. “A few months. Bit over three, to be exact. We…don’t know how to fix it, or what happened, or what’s wrong with him.”

“Why don’t you ask me?” Chase asked dryly.

Jack blinked. “What do you—?”

“I was _there,_ Jack. I was part of this, this is—” He stopped himself from saying this was his fault. He knew that it wasn’t. But…god, how could it not be? If he’d just been a little bit stronger, if he hadn’t fallen for Anti’s tricks in the first place, this never would have happened. He swallowed through the lump in his throat. “I saw what happened. He told me what this is.”

Jack walked over to stand next to Chase, and put a hand on his shoulder. Chase immediately shrugged off the too-heavy weight. A flash of hurt crossed Jack’s face, but he covered it immediately. “Well…anything would help,” he said softly.

“…right. Yeah.” Chase looked back at Schneep and his blank eyes. “What happened…I was supposed to get him away, to the place he’d set up for this…this purpose. And…” Chase shuddered. “Anti…he can’t affect someone unless they’re in a mentally weak place. He can force inside, that’s what he calls puppeteering, it’s what happened to you on Halloween. But…to _really_ mess with them…”

“You don’t have to go into details if you don’t want to,” Jack hurried to say.

“I—alright. Alright.” Chase took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them slowly. “But he…he…what he said happened to Schneep is that…his soul was separated from his body.”

“What?!” Jack glanced at JJ. “Is that possible?”

JJ furrowed his brows, confused, then shook his head, making a strange gesture with both hands. “That’s ‘die,’” Jack translated. “You’d die without a soul?” JJ nodded.

“Well, if the soul was just left there,” Chase said. “But…he put it somewhere. I—I don’t know where, but it was something to do with TV screens. Or maybe that’s just how he accessed the place.” Chase remembered walking the empty halls of that underground maze. Sometimes there was a TV screen in the eye-ridden walls. He’d walk past it and hear…something that almost sounded like a person…“ ̴ ̢ ͠ ͝ ̷̢ ̕͠ ̡͢ ̡ ̛͢ ̢ ̕ ̵̛͢!̸̕ ̡̧ ̨ ̛͠ ͡ ̕͠ ̵̕͟ ͏͞ ̧͠ ͟ ͏͏ ̷͟ ̨̕ ̨ ̢͢ ̷͢ ͠͏ ̷̴ ͠!”

“Can we…can we undo it?” Jack sounded afraid of the answer.

Chase shook his head. “I don’t know.”

Silence for a moment. And then, “Well, we know more than we did before. That counts as progress!” Jack said, forcing a note of cheerfulness. “Now we have good ol’ knowledge, we have those books that could maybe help us, we can meet him on his own level.” JJ straightened, nodding optimistically.

“I guess it’s better than where we were before.” Chase let go of Schneep’s hand—why was that so easy, he should’ve wanted to hold on longer—and stood up. “Maybe…we have a chance…” he said reluctantly.

Jack smiled. “That’s the spirit!” He pulled Chase into a one-armed hug. Chase squeaked, and wiggled out of it, backing back toward the door. Jack gaped at him. “Chase, what—what’s wrong? You’ve never…I mean…”

“I-I’m going to the bathroom,” Chase said, stepping past Jameson, who was giving him the most peculiar look, and into the hallway. “I’ll-I’ll be back.”

And that was how he ended up here, in a ball in the tub, wondering what the fuck was wrong with him. It wasn’t enough that he’d helped put one of his best friends in a coma, he had to be repulsed by his other best friend just trying to comfort him.

He tried to tell himself that wasn’t what was happening. But he couldn’t think of any other way to describe it. When Jack had tried to hug him, it felt like his skin was about to crawl off his body. The weight of his arms had been stifling, suffocating. And the feeling of being pressed against another person made his breathing stop and his brain go crazy with the need to just get away.

Chase curled up tighter. It wasn’t always that way. He used to love hugs. What happened?

_You don’t hate me, Chase. I’m your fr̨i͟͏e͝n̛d̵.  
_

Chase shuddered. Anti. Anti was what happened. For a demon, he’d been awfully touchy-feely while Chase was with him. If he wasn’t off doing…whatever it was demons did, or making Chase…he didn’t want to think about what Anti made him do. But if neither of those more pressing engagements were underway, Anti would show up. He’d wrap his arms around him, tightly, and wouldn’t let go. His favorite thing to do was touch the stitches on his neck, gently stroke them. Chase had thought it felt…nice…at the time. Now he shuddered, remembering it.

He uncurled from his position, climbing out of the tub and walking over to the counter with its mirror. He leaned over the sink, staring at his own reflection. Jack was right. He did look like hell. In fact, he almost didn’t recognize the thin, pale face with dark circles under its eyes and brittle hair tangled and faded at the ends. But there were two things that affirmed it was actually himself he was looking at. The dirty cap that he still wore, mostly out of habit now, and the green stitches wrapped around his neck. Contrary to the rest of his appearance, they looked as clean and pristine as the day he gave them to him.

Chase gritted his teeth. He could feel them. They were itching, grabbing at his skin. Around his wrists, too. He held up his hands, examining the stitching there. There was a small, loose end dangling from his left wrist, half an inch long. Before he could stop to wonder if this was a good idea, he snatched the end, and started pulling. And kept pulling. The sensation of thread rubbing against his skin, being pulled from somewhere _inside,_ made him want to scream. But he kept at it, until the string was about the length of his forearm. And then it stopped. He tugged, and no more string came out. It just felt like something was pulling his wrist along.

There was another loose end on his right wrist. Chase repeated the process, and got the same result. He whimpered. There had to be something else he could do. There had to be, he couldn’t just be stuck with this, stuck with _him,_ forever.

He looked back up, catching the fearful eye of his reflection in the mirror. He watched his reflection’s hand reach up, feeling the stitches on the neck, causing his reflection to shake at the sensation of fingers on its stitching. The reflected hand made its way around the back of the reflected neck and back to the front again, where its fingers brushed against a dangling string. The fingers seized the string, and slowly, steadily, a length of green thread unreeled. Simple as pulling out a vein. Until it stopped, and all Chase could feel was that—that _tug._

_You’re being d̶͞i͟͟ffi͞c̷ul̛̕͢t on purpose, Chase. Come on, be good for your fr̴̢i̴͠en̨d̴ or I’ll have to dr̶a̶g̛̕͞ you b̢͠e͢h͞ind̴̕ ̡͟me̵.  
_

Someone was knocking on the door. He heard it, but he didn’t listen to it. He was too busy clawing at the stitches, nails catching on thread as he tried desperately to get them off, get them off, _get them off._ If he could just get under them, if he could only get them away from him, everything would be okay. He wouldn’t have been so weak, Anti wouldn’t have used him, his friends wouldn’t have been hurt by him, he wouldn’t be such a fucked human being—

The door must’ve opened at one point, because now someone was trying to pull his arms away. He resisted, naturally. That was what you do, you resist the pull during those moments when you’re aware enough to realize you’re being yanked along down empty red halls. There was blood on his neck and under his nails, and the stitches weren’t coming out. He wasn’t breathing. Or if he was, it was so shallow that it didn’t register. And the stitches weren’t coming out.

His hands were finally taken away from his throat, warm hands wrapped around his fingers so they couldn’t wiggle back. He stopped trying at that point and just stood there, gasping. Chase realized there were tears in his eyes only when he had to squint through them to see who it was who’d stopped him. Dark blue eyes, a darker blue mask. Jameson.

“I—I can’t, I c-can’t,” Chase gulped. His cheeks were wet. “I c-can’t, I just—I j-j-just want—” 

Jameson didn’t say anything, obviously. But Chase realized his eyes were watery with unshed tears. After a moment, during which Chase tried his best to recover his breath, Jameson let go of Chase’s hands and reached over to the mirror, swinging it open to reveal the medicine cabinet behind it. He plucked out a box of Band-Aids and held them out to Chase.

Chase took the box, giving Jameson a confused look. JJ responded by tapping his own neck. After a moment, Chase opened the box and took out a Band-Aid, carefully removing the paper covering. He took a moment to steel his nerves, then put the Band-Aid on his neck, over one of the spots that was bleeding. JJ nodded encouragingly. Chase stared at him for a moment more, then sat down on the toilet seat, steadily making his way through the box as he used up Band-Aids fixing the bleeding. After he was sure every spot was covered, he looked up at JJ.

JJ’s eyes squinted in a way that meant he was smiling underneath the mask. He held his hand out toward Chase. Chase instinctively shrank away, holding his wrists closer to himself, but when the hand didn’t come any closer he slowly relaxed, and took the offering. JJ pulled Chase to his feet, and gently led him out of the bathroom and into the apartment’s second bedroom. Normally that was where Jack slept, but Jack had been gone for a month, and it looked unused when JJ flipped on the light.

Chase looked around. “I thought…you would’ve been sleeping here. While you worked on getting Jack back.”

JJ shook his head. He walked over to the room’s dresser, pulling open the bottom drawer. After a moment of rummaging around, he started pulling out what looked like loose cloth until he had a pile of it, which he gathered up and dumped onto the bed. He beckoned for Chase to come see. Chase slowly crept over.

It wasn’t just a bunch of loose cloth. It was…scarves. And bandannas. A variety of styles and colors. Chase gave JJ a wide-eyed look. “What’re…?”

JJ tapped his mask, right over where his mouth was. It clicked for Chase then. Of course JJ would know something about the stitches. Of course he would understand why Chase was trying so frantically to pull them out, to no avail. He’d been living with them for longer than Chase had. And his had caused quite a bit of inconvenience, too.

Chase sat down on the bed and began sorting through the pile. “Heh. Why does Jack have so many?” he muttered. He pulled out a piece of purple. The color was quite nice. And it was a bandanna, no loose dangling ends. He tied it around his neck, fully hiding the stitches from view. Then, he noticed his wrists, and held them up for Jameson to see. He gave him an inquiring look.

JJ folded his arms, thinking, then walked right back over to the dresser and opened a box on top of it that looked like it had never been opened before, at least not regularly. He pulled out a yellow headband, threw it away, then showed Chase what else was in the box: two matching wristbands. Chase nodded, and JJ tossed them over. Chase caught them easily and quickly pulled them on, tucking the loose string inside. “I…I think I like this,” he said quietly. “Thanks, JJ.”

JJ smiled again, then jerked his head toward the bedroom door as if to ask, _Are you ready to leave?_ “Not…yet,” Chase said. “I want to change clothes. These are kinda a mess. Do you mind?” JJ nodded, and left.

A few moments later, Chase reemerged from the bedroom. JJ, who’d been waiting outside the door, gave him a thumbs up. Chase returned that with a small smile. He felt at least a little better now. Not back to normal, but not…like it was with him.

The two of them walked down the hall and came out into the living room. Jack was curled up on the couch, also in a new set of clothes, staring at nothing. The moment they walked in, his head snapped toward him. He did something strange: he closed his left eye, the normal one, for just a moment. He smiled, and opened it again. “Hey, dude,” he said, his tone falling somewhere between gentle and casual. “Are you…okay now?”

Chase leaned against the nearest wall. “No. But…I’m not as bad.”

“That’s okay. It’s…gonna take a while. For all of us.” Jack took a deep breath. “Look, I’m…I’m sorry about what happened back there. The, uh, hug thing.”

“What?” Chase blinked, surprised. “No, you don’t have to be sorry. I shouldn’t’ve freaked out on you.”

Jack shook his head. “No, I made you uncomfortable, and that sucks. I’m the one at fault here. I didn’t know it would make you upset, but the fact of the matter is that even if I didn’t know, I still need to apologize. It may have been an accident, but it…it hurt you. And I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

Chase stared at him. He could feel the tears coming again, just a different kind now. “Thanks, man.” He took a deep breath, then crossed over to the couch and sat down. He was on the other side, and he wasn’t at all eager to get closer to Jack, but…he didn’t want to be alone right now. JJ followed him into the room, taking his place leaning against the wall. He made some gestures that Chase didn’t understand.

“What is…?”

“He’s wondering what to do next,” Jack translated. “It’s sign language. We, uh, only came up with it after…he took you. And, uh, Chase.” Jack made eye contact with him. “It wasn’t your fault. None of it was. It was all him.”

Chase felt the urge to explain. “I mean…if I hadn’t been taken, then Doc wouldn’t be—”

“He probably would,” Jack said. “Remember December last year? JJ and I think maybe Anti was trying to get him in this same sort of…coma, whatever, but wasn’t quite strong enough. He’s been trying for a long time, Chase, and if he hadn’t been able to use you, he still would’ve found another way. Chase, you’re not the bad guy here. You’re the victim. And you need to stop taking blame that isn’t yours to take.”

Chase made a strange sound, part whimper, part squeak, part sigh of relief. He…he needed that. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. I’m not the bad guy. I’m the—I’m the victim.” He flinched automatically, saying that, expecting retaliation for saying he was hurt. Of course, it didn’t come. And…it felt good to be able to say it. “But…JJ’s right, what are we going to do next?”

Jack glanced at JJ. “Well, we need to figure out what could be happening to Henrik’s soul. And then we need to see if there’s a way back. And then, if there is, we need to get it back so he’ll wake up.”

“That’s only three things,” Chase muttered. “Not too hard when you say it that way.”

JJ laughed a bit at that, a muffled sound. He held out his hand, and a blue circle flared into existence, spinning on the fingertips briefly before fading away. He looked at the other two, then flexed his fingers again as if to say, _we have this._

“Yeah, that could help,” Jack said, picking up on the unspoken message. “I know you don’t know what it is, but you know how it works?”

JJ nodded.

“Didn’t you guys say you had some magic books?” Chase asked. “I think I remem…shit!” He bolted upright. “JJ, I stabbed you! Fuck, I’m sorry about that, I-I know it wasn’t me, but I still feel like to need an apology—”

JJ held up a hand to still the flow of words. He nodded in understanding, and Chase practically wilted with relief.

“Yeah, we have some magic books,” Jack said. “Four, wasn’t it?” JJ nodded. “Maybe something could help us in those.”

“I guess the next step is researching, huh?”

“No, the next step is bedtime.” Jack pointed at the digital clock hanging on the wall. “I dunno about you, but I’m gonna sleep for the entire next day.”

With the mention of sleep, Chase was suddenly aware of how exhausted he was. How exhausted he’d been for a long long while. The adrenaline must’ve been wearing off finally. “I…I don’t think I can be alone,” he whispered.

“Then we can all sleep in my room,” Jack said. “I know I have a ton of spare blankets and pillows. We can make a nest on the floor, or two people can sleep on the bed together.”

“Dibs on the nest,” Chase said. “Do you…mind if I’m by myself?”

“Of course not, Chase,” Jack said gently. “JJ and I can take the bed. That’s okay with you, JJ?” JJ laughed, then gave a thumbs-up. “Then it’s settled.”

Night fell. The city continued on its business outside. And for the first time in months, the three of them slept soundly.


	10. Nightmare World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> JJ finds a way to bring Schneep back, and he and Chase attempt it, venturing into a land of nightmares and danger.

Jack woke up to a piece of folded paper hitting him in the face. Actually, he’d already been sort of semi-awake, but the paper landing surprised him to full wakefulness. He opened his eyes and pushed away the paper to see JJ staring at him, already fully-dressed. He waved, then pointed at the paper and left, closing Jack’s bedroom door behind him.

With a sleepy sigh, Jack looked over at his clock. 12:30 pm. His sleep schedule had been messed up ever since he…got back. He didn’t want to fall asleep at night in the dark, so he stayed up way too late and slept in way too much. Chase also overslept now, but he actually went to bed super early. Trying to catch up on all the sleep hours he lost. Well, it wasn’t like either of them had any obligations anymore, since they still hadn’t gone back to their jobs. Technically, both of them were still missing persons cases. As much as Jack wanted for everything to go back to normal, he wasn’t sure how to explain to the police that he’d been kidnapped by a demon for a month until one of his friends somehow got magic, then the two of them proceeded to rescue their other friend from the demon’s control. So, they didn’t try at all.

Jack unfolded the piece of paper. There was a note written on it in JJ’s handwriting. _Good morning Jack. I’m sorry for waking you up like this, but I believe I’ve found something important, specifically in regards to Henrik’s condition. If you would please get ready and meet Chase and I in the living room, that would be appreciated. ♡_

When did he have time to find something? Probably while the other two were still sleeping, actually. Jack let his head hit the pillow with a soft _thwump,_ taking a few deep breaths. He didn’t want to get up, but he supposed it had to be done. So he pushed into a sitting position and stood up, getting ready to start another day.

A shower, a change of clothes, and a bowl of cereal later, Jack walked into the apartment’s front room. Chase was already awake. That is, in the sense that his eyes were open and he was sitting on the couch. He looked still asleep otherwise, yawning and in pajamas. Jack noted that even though he otherwise wasn’t dressed, he was wearing his bandanna and wristbands. Understandable.

Jack sat down on the other side of the couch. Chase blinked at him. “G’mornin’,” he mumbled.

“It’s like one in the afternoon, but good morning Chase,” Jack said.

Chase nodded, not saying anything back. On an impulse, Jack closed his left eye, activating that weird sort of vision that he still hadn’t figured out. The world turned black and white, and he could see the yellow light inside Chase’s chest. It had…had these sort of grooves in it, ever since they managed to break the strings connecting him to Anti. But every day, they were getting less…angry. Jack wondered sometimes if this weird vision let him see people’s minds, but then wouldn’t the light be in the head? He was still working on several theories.

A sudden appearance of a blue light made Jack turn his attention to JJ, who’d just entered the room. His light was a bit different too. When he wasn’t using his new magic, little discs of the same color tended to float around the light. Jack shook himself, then opened his left eye again, letting normal sight return. JJ was holding one of the magic books they’d retrieved from the shop a month and a half ago. He also had a pad of paper and a pen. They’d been trying to teach Chase sign language, but it was slow going, so they stuck with pen and paper for now.

“Hey, James,” Jack said. “So…what’s all this about? You said you found something?”

JJ nodded eagerly. He flipped through the book, stopping at a page near the end. He put the open book down on the couch in between Jack and Chase, so they could both lean over and read it. The writing was small, and there were some strange pictures, but the entry title was large enough to read easily: The Nightmare.

“What’s this?” Chase’s eyes were wide.

JJ dropped the pad of paper on top of the entry, letting the other two read what he’d already written. _I was scanning through this book this morning, and found it had a section on other worlds, that sort of orbit our own like a solar system. Apparently this one is known as The Nightmare. It’s a world where your own dark thoughts and fears shape the environment, making it, essentially, just like a bad nightmare. Just one you experience while you’re awake. It’s said that the physical body cannot access this world, only the soul. When the body is left behind it will be basically lifeless, and the entry describes ones who are stuck in the Nightmare as having “empty, dripping eyes.” It’s said that in the past, black magic magicians would send the souls of their enemies there. I don’t know about you, but to me these facts seem to fit what happened to Henrik._

Jack looked at Chase, noticing he’d suddenly paled. He pushed the note aside and scanned the entry really quick. His finger traced a sentence, which Jack followed along in reading. ‘ _Some magicians may use crystals or flat, reflective surfaces as windows into the Nightmare, in order to spy upon those they’d sent there.’_ “I…I think you’re right.” Chase shuddered. “But if that’s the case, how do we get him back? Can—can we even…?”

“There has to be a way.” Jack looked at JJ, who was already writing.

 _The only way out of the Nightmare is to create an exit,_ he wrote. _But we can’t make an opening on this side and wait for Henrik to come out. From this world, you can only make ENTRANCES to the Nightmare. Exits can only be made from within. It’s why the Nightmare is such an effective way to get rid of enemies, if cruel. Any openings are one-way._

“So…” Chase tucked his arms in close, pulling on his wristbands. “You’re saying…we’d have to go in and get him.”

JJ paused, then nodded slowly.

All the color drained from Jack’s face. “We…we have to go—go to a-a-a dimension that’s designed to—it makes all our bad dreams come to life.”

 _Not just bad dreams, but bad experiences and fears too._ JJ looked back and forth between the two of Jack and Chase, both of whom were pale and trembling. _You don’t have to. I’m the one with the ability to open the entrance and exit, I can go on my own._

“No.” Chase shook his head. “No, no, you can’t go on your own. Nobody should go on their own. I—I can come. And—and Henrik is in there, and it’s my fault—stop shaking your head, I know it isn’t really but I still feel like it is, and—and if I can reverse this, I’ll…I’ll feel better about it.”

Jameson stared at him for a moment longer, then nodded again. He looked over at Jack with a curious head tilt. Jack stared back. He should want to help Schneep. He did. But…if he thought about travelling to a place that would deliberately take him back to his worst memories, back to what he worst feared…”I’m sorry, I just—I can’t,” he whispered. He fought the urge to rub his right eye. He’d had it back for barely two weeks, just half the time he’d been without it. He was still getting re-used to it.

“That’s okay,” Chase said softly. “I get it. You don’t have to make yourself.”

“I’m sorry,” Jack muttered.

“It’s _okay,_ Jack,” Chase repeated. He hesitated for a moment, the reached over and put his hand on Jack’s shoulder. Even though it wasn’t a lot, Jack knew it was hard for Chase to even do that much. The gesture melted his heart a little.

“Alright,” Jack said shakily. “Alright.” He looked up at JJ. “When…when were you planning to do this?”

JJ took a moment to write. _As soon as possible, honestly. Just enough for you to get ready._

“That seems like a good idea,” Chase nodded. “I think…if I think about it too long, I might start having doubts. Just let me get dressed and stuff. Do you need anything? To make the entrance?”

JJ shook his head. _It’s a surprisingly simple spell material-wise. But it may expend a lot of energy._

“Okay.” Chase closed his eyes, folding his arms. “I guess we’re really doing this, huh? Better sooner than later. Let’s go.”

* * *

An hour later, they reconvened inside the apartment’s guest room, where Schneep was still stuck. Chase had taken to sleeping on the floor in this room. His makeshift bed, created from loose blankets and pillows, now had a matching twin next to it. Jameson had explained that while their souls were in the Nightmare their bodies would be unconscious, unresponsive. So Jack had set up a place for them to lie down, so that their bodies would be safe and out of the way. Now, he was sitting in the chair next to the bed, watching Chase and JJ get ready for their journey. He couldn’t quite believe this was happening. It was…so fast. “You…you’re both sure?”

JJ nodded, eyes full of determination. Chase took a deep breath. “Yeah…yeah I am.” He looked at JJ. “So…how do we start this?”

Jameson lay down, gesturing for Chase to do the same, which he did. JJ then took a steady breath, inhaling and exhaling slowly. Symbols flickered into existence above the two of them, drawn in blue light. They organized into circles, one above Jameson and one above Chase, written in concentric ripples that slowly revolved around the circles’ centers. Around the edges of each circle, four blue triangles started glowing, pointing toward the circle. Jameson and Chase began breathing slower. They stopped fidgeting and moving, becoming completely still. Eventually, the runic designs dissipated. Jack leaned closer. Glowing blue tears were dripping from underneath both of their eyelids.

“Please come back safe,” he muttered, knowing they couldn’t hear him. He laughed a bit. “I…kind of expected more to happen there, honestly. But I guess you’re not gonna disappear or anything…”

He looked back toward the bed. Schneep was as lifeless as ever. “All of you better come back,” Jack said. “I don’t…think I could handle this on my own.” He took a deep breath, pulling his feet up on to the chair and hugging his knees close. There was nothing to do now but wait. Wait…and hope.

* * *

Chase didn’t open his eyes. He didn’t need to. The sight before him fizzled into existence, the way a dream might come into being. He was standing on a flat expanse of black rock, its surface littered with patches of black gravel, pebbles, and chunks of stone. It extended as far as the eye could see. There was no sky above, simply gray. Chase spun around. He couldn’t see anything, not until he made a full turn and saw Jameson fading into being, like a ghost. Also similar to a ghost, he didn’t quite look solid. Instead, he was slightly transparent. JJ looked around, stopping when he saw Chase. He gave him a wave.

“So this is it, huh?” Chase asked.

{I think it has to be.}

Chase yelped, stumbling away. “What just—did you hear that?”

JJ’s eyes widened. He looked frantically around. {I didn’t hear anything, is this something that just Chase can hear, or is my hearing going? Oh, that would be perfect, wouldn’t it? Already lost one way to communicate with people, let’s take the rest away.}

“Wait…” Chase blinked. “Wait, JJ. I think…I think I can hear _you._ ”

{What? No, that’s not possible, he can’t be hearing me. Unless he’s picking up on my thoughts?}

“I think I _am_ picking up on your thoughts, dude!” Chase’s words were all the confirmation JJ needed, whose eyes widened. “Look, this place…we’re not in our bodies right now, right? So I guess we’re able to communicate mind-to-mind.” Chase went silent for a second. He wanted to try…{So maybe I don’t even need to talk either?}

{Oh my god.} Jameson took a few steps back, hand clasping over his mouth in shock. {Oh my god, you can hear me. I can hear you. But wait!} He stopped. {If we’re not in our bodies right now, then…what are these?} He indicated himself, and Chase. {They look like us, but maybe they’re merely projections?}

“Maybe,” Chase shrugged. “Hey, in, like, movies and shit like this, the people are able to change their outfits and appearance. Do you think that…?” He looked down at his projected body. It looked just like him, wearing the same outfit he’d been wearing before entering the Nightmare, bandanna and wristbands included. It certainly _felt_ real. He could feel the texture of his clothes against his skin. And he could feel the…maybe he could…change that? Get rid of them? But when he concentrated, wishing with all his might, his appearance stayed the same. {Oh…I guess…I’m stuck like this then.}

{This is the Nightmare, Chase.} Chase jumped, not realizing he’d somehow projected his disappointment. JJ was giving him a sympathetic look. {It’s not going to make life better for us. In fact, it’s probably going out of its way to make sure we’re _not_ comfortable.}

“…yeah. That makes sense,” Chase sighed. “I just…got my hopes up.” He adjusted his bandanna. “So anyway. How are we gonna find the doc in here? I don’t want to be stuck here for longer than we have to be.”

{I’m not quite sure. Maybe I could try a tracking spell? I don’t know if it will work in here, but it’s better than nothing.}

“Yeah, you do that.” While Jameson closed his eyes and started concentrating on the tracking spell, Chase looked around. “Is…is it just me, or does this place look different now?”

There were trees now. Twisted, messed up trees with white or black bark. The ground was shooting out black grass and undergrowth was slowly growing into existence. The “sky” above was now shot through with squares of black and white, like—like static. And everything was eerily silent.

Jameson looked around. {The Nightmare is shaped by its inhabitants. It’s taking our memories and fears and creating a bad dream, if you will.}

“I’m not scared of a forest,” Chase muttered. “What about you?”

{They…make me a little…uneasy, yes. Deep dark forests, where all you can see are trees…and it looks like the Nightmare knows that.} More trees were popping up, closer and closer together. {Oh! Wait, I got it, it’s working!} The tracking spell had spun into being, a blue disc. It hovered in the air before setting off in a direction, a little faster than walking speed. {Come on, we can’t lose it!} JJ set off after it indicating for Chase to follow.

The monochrome forest was in full effect now, the trees so close that Chase and JJ could barely walk next to each other. Their white branches stretched high, lacing through each other to form a lattice that blocked out most of the sky above (which was now definitely static). Undergrowth reached up and grabbed at their legs, causing them to trip and stumble. When Chase tried to touch one of the tree trunks, the bark peeled and distorted, almost glitching. His hand started to sink into the tree and he barely managed to pull it out. JJ found he was walking much closer to Chase than the rules of personal space would dictate, but he didn’t care. His eyes darted around. It was getting dark beneath the trees.

“Where’s this thing even going?” Chase asked.

JJ shrugged. {Hell if I know. Last time I used it, I just followed it and it worked.}

“Wait, did you just say ‘hell’?” A smile quirked at the edge of Chase’s mouth. “I thought you didn’t swear.”

{…oh.} JJ looked faintly embarrassed. {Well, I don’t _say_ the words, or didn’t, rather, but sometimes it’s hard not to think them, being surrounded by people who swear regularly.}

“I am so telling Jack about th—”

_Crack!_

The ground broke apart, chunks of black rocks falling away like something from a disaster movie. Below, there was nothing but an endless void. At the bottom there was static, just like the sky. Chase shouted, jumping away from the crack and into JJ, who stumbled with the surprise heaviness of having to catch him. Apparently weight was still a factor in the Nightmare.

There was only a moment of respite. After the first crack, more followed, sinkholes opening up, chunks of the forest falling away. Behind them, the ground collapsed, trees and their roots flailing into oblivion. {Run!} JJ screamed. Chase didn’t hesitate to follow his advice. All around them, the world was breaking apart, everything was crumbling and falling—

—until there was only chunks left.

It looked like they were standing on top of spires, which were anchored in the void. The ground was still black stone, with the occasional stubborn tree clinging to its pebbly surface. A few rocks floated freely in the air, like stepping stones across the sea of static. Not too far away, maybe half the length of a football field, the solid ground resumed, more endless black stone, forming rolling hills covered in long black grass.

“Oh fuck,” Chase whispered. Despite himself, he leaned over the edge, immediately backing up. “Oh _fuck.”_

{Afraid of heights, then?} JJ asked.

“Yeah. I didn’t think it was that bad, though.”

{Well, I hate to tell you this, but we’re going to have to keep moving.} JJ pointed. The tracker spell had been unaffected by the change of environment, and was keeping its steady pace toward the solid ground.

“I…okay.” Chase tried to move, but found someone had glued his feet to the ground. He looked at the floating stepping stones, the only way to get off their current spire and on the way toward following the tracking spell, and a paralyzing fear coursed through him.

{It’s going to be fine, Chase,} Jameson said reassuringly. {If it helps, get on your hands and knees and just crawl over the gaps.}

“Right. Right.” Slowly, Chase lowered himself to the ground, feeling a bit more steady now. “Just…take this one step at a time. No shame. Just go.”

Somehow, they managed to climb over the stepping stones and spires and back onto solid ground, whereupon Chase collapsed in the shin-length black grass. “I am… _never_ doing that…ever again,” he said. “No more heights. Not even Ferris wheels. No more. I’m staying on the ground.”

{But you made it, at least,} JJ said encouragingly.

“Barely. Fuck. How are you so calm?”

{I just…have to focus on the bigger picture. It’s calming.} JJ scanned the area around them. {We were a little slow. The tracker’s far ahead of us. Do you feel up to walking?}

“Y-yeah, just…” Chase pushed to his feet, his legs a bit shaky. “Where’s the thing?”

{Just going over the next hill. Come on.}

They had just about reached the top of the hill when they heard the scream.

For a moment, they froze, looking at each other with wide, terror-filled eyes. They knew that scream. In unison, they burst into a run, cresting the hill and staring down into a slight valley caused by a dip between the hills.

The first thing they noticed was the beast. It looked something like a bear, but with a wolf’s head that had snake’s fangs in the mouth. Its fur was odd, mostly white, but every so often black interference and distortions would run across its body, and sometimes it would become just a static silhouette. It was running, black eyes locked onto its target that was sprinting across the valley. Said target was a man, with brown hair. Even though he was running as fast as he could, and even though the beast was half the valley’s length behind, it was easily closing the distance between the two of them.

“No!” Chase didn’t even think, just went, gravity lending him aid in his mad dash down the hill. His feet flew across the ground, and despite the long grass’s best efforts, he was not slowed.

He was only a few feet away when the beast finally caught up to its target, pouncing on the poor man and dragging him down with another scream. It roared in triumph, raising a paw that was covered in three-inch claws for the final swipe.

A blue circle came out of nowhere, slamming into the beast’s side with such force that it was actually knocked over. Lines of blue light dug into its hide, but it just roared, trying to make its way back to its prey. And so two more circles followed, piercing the beast, until with one final roar it collapsed.

Chase looked over his shoulder to see JJ not too far behind him, hand extended forward. His expression was one of complete and utter shock. Apparently he didn’t know he could do that. “Bro, that was badass,” Chase muttered. “Keep that in mind for the future.” He turned back around, covering the rest of the distance in a second. The beast’s target was still lying in the tall grass, arms flung over his face as if to protect it. Chase hesitated, then called, “Doc? Schneep?”

Schneep didn’t look much different that he had when he’d last seen him. After all, this wasn’t actually his real body, just a projection of his soul. It wouldn’t mimic any changes that happened in the real world. He was wearing the same clothes from before, and even his glasses. When he lowered his arms and looked around, Chase saw that his eyes were normal, blue, in this world. Eventually, those eyes noticed Chase staring, and locked on to him.

“Hey…” Chase said softly. “Schneep? Henrik?”

“Nicht wieder.”

Chase hadn’t known what he’d been expecting, but not that. Schneep was backing away from him, moving steadily backwards through the tall grass while never taking his eyes away. Chase blinked. “Doc…? Are you okay?”

“Nicht wieder.” Schneep shook his head. “Nicht wieder!” He suddenly picked up the pace, scrambling backwards in order to get as far away as possible from Chase.

“Henrik, it’s okay, it’s me!” Chase said, desperately trying to calm him down. He reached towards him, but Schneep just flinched away. “We’re here to get you out of this place.”

“Keine Tricks mehr!” Schneep shouted. “Halt dich von mir fern!” He backed away just a bit more, and suddenly the ground crumbled, stone turning into something more like sand. He sank right through it with an expression of surprise…and fear.

“Henrik!” Chase surged forward, but he was too late. The ground had re-solidified, and now there was a patch of blank stone in the field of grass. Chase could only stare at the spot, completely empty. He’d just found him, and then he lost him again. And he hadn’t even wanted to see him. In fact, he’d been _afraid_ of him. What had he been saying? Chase had never really been one for languages. Wasn’t “nicht” something like “not”? Everything else had been too fast for him to pick up or recognize.

{Chase? Are…are you alright?}

He’d almost forgotten JJ was there. {I…don’t know,} he admitted, somehow not being able to say the words out loud.

{It’s…it’s going to be okay.} JJ forced some optimism into his mental voice. {You can’t die inside the Nightmare, so we can just use the tracking spell to find him again.}

“Well. After we used the spell the first time we ran into a creepy forest, an earthquake, and the stepping stones of doom.” Chase stared up at the static-filled sky. “Those are some high odds against us.”

{Well…} JJ frowned, then brightened with an idea. {Oh! So, this place takes our worst fears and turns them against us. Maybe if we tell each other what we’re afraid of, we’ll have a better chance of predicting what’ll happen next.}

“Maybe.” Chase shrugged.

{I’m going to start the spell again now.} The circling blue light began to gather again. {I do wonder what the deal was with that beast, you know.}

“Schneep’s afraid of wild animals,” Chase explained. “Anything with claws and teeth that isn’t a pet, or sometimes even is.”

{See, that’s the thing about fears. I bet that beast wouldn’t even exist if Henrik wasn’t afraid of animals like that. Tracking spell is up again.} The disc started off, slower this time. {It must not be too far, if the spell is this slow. Come on.}

They followed it through the field of grass, going up a hill and down another before the ground leveled out. “So. Fears, huh?” Chase said. “I…well, you saw I’m not a fan of heights. Also not the best with thunderstorms. You?”

{They all seem rather childish,} JJ mused. {I’m not a fan of the dark, or of blood, and, well, after March I developed a fear of needles.}

“That’s reasonable.” Chase nodded. “I…I don’t like eyes anymore. Like, the idea of being watch—” He stopped. Not only stopping his sentence but freezing in place. He looked around. “I could’ve sworn something was…” He shook it off. “Never mind.”

{What was it?} JJ asked.

“Nothing, I just…I thought—” He felt it again. This time he spun around wildly, looking for anything in the area that could have caused it. “I…it’s nothing. It—it has to be nothing.”

{What’s nothing?} The concern in Jameson’s voice was evident.

“It—it feels like something is—” Chase stumbled to the side with the force of the next pull. “What the fuck?!” He looked down at his hands. The string. The length of green string had somehow slipped out from under the wristband on his right hand. And one of the blades of tall grass had wrapped around it, not in a way that could be explained as an accident. He stared at the grass as it _pulled._

“No! Let go of me!” He yanked his wrist backwards, only to fall forwards, nearly toppling over, when the grass responded with a yank of stronger force. He gritted his teeth, doing his best to take deep breaths. His heart was pounding, remembering. No, this wasn’t the same thing. He wasn’t going to let it happen again. He grabbed the loose string with his other hand, trying to wrench it away. But the grass renewed its efforts, other blades joining in, twisting around the string and pulling down. “JJ! Help!” His voice broke.

Once Jameson realized what was happening he immediately jumped in, grabbing Chase’s arm and helping in this demented tug-of-war. But it wasn’t enough. The grass was creeping up the string, until suddenly it hopped over to Chase’s other wrist, digging beneath the band until it pulled out the other loose end and started tugging on that one too.

“It’s not enough!” Chase gasped. He blinked away the water in his eyes, he needed to see right now. He planted his feet firmly against the ground, but then he felt something wrap around his ankles. He looked down. It wasn’t the grass doing that. The ground had grown hands, and they were pinning him in place. “Stop it!” he shrieked, trying and failing to shake them off. “Jameson, please! Help!”

Jameson tried again, this time aiming to grab the strings away. But his hands passed right through them. His eyes widened, and he tried to pull Chase’s arms away, only to pass right through them as well. What was happening? He tried to mentally reach out to Chase, to explain, but Chase showed no reaction. He was just staring at him with tears in his eyes, wondering why he wasn’t doing anything to help him in his struggle. Jameson froze, paralyzed for a split second before reaching out towards Chase, his hands passing right through. He couldn’t—he couldn’t do anything. He could never do anything.

With a yelp, Chase was pulled forward, landing on his hands and knees among the grass. More hands sprouted out from the ground, grabbing his arms, making his skin crawl. “Stop! Stop it! Please!” They were a lot stronger than him. One reached up and pulled his bandanna off, wrapping around his neck, in an almost gentle manner. The tears were flowing freely now. “Jameson—anyone! Help!” Chase gasped.

He was trying, he really was. But every time Jameson tried to pry the hands away, or drag Chase away from him, he slipped right through, like he wasn’t even there. All he could do was watch. No, no there had to be another way. There had to be something he could do besides just reach out and try and slip and fail, he had to do something, he had to do _something_ —

There was a burst of blue light. It radiated outward in a series of concentric circles, each wave breaking apart the black grass and the black stone. It didn’t last more than a few seconds, but when it was over, JJ and Chase were in the middle of a blank circle of black rock, the air around them shimmering with particles of blue. Chase was laying on the ground, curled up and shuddering with tears. JJ was still standing, though he quickly knelt by his friend’s side. He hesitated for a split second, then placed a hand on Chase’s shoulder. Chase quickly flinched away, and JJ yanked his hand back, but a wave of relief crashed through him anyway. Whatever had happened must have ended. {Chase…?} JJ called. {Chase, I’m here. It’s over now.}

“It’s over now,” Chase repeated. “It’s over now. It’s over now.” After a few moments, Chase sat up. He picked up his bandanna from where it had fallen and retied it around his neck. He tucked the loose strings back under the wristbands. “That…I…I can see why this place is the Nightmare. I didn’t…”

{Didn’t even think about that,} JJ finished. {Me neither. I suppose I was thinking rather…shallowly, when I thought about worst fears.}

Chase wiped his eyes. “We gotta get Schneep out of here. He’s been here for…what, three and a half months? Fuck, dude. We have to.”

{I lost the tracking spell.} JJ looked around. The disc was nowhere in sight. {I can make another one, but…}

“How did you do that, though?” Chase asked. JJ looked confused, so he continued. “That thing, right there. You, like, stopped everything.”

{I…don’t know.} JJ stared into the static sky. {It was just…something that happened, when I thought about how much I should be doing to help you. That seems to be how this new magic of mine works. Its primary concern is to help others, specifically those I consider my friends.}

“Well, that’s cool, I guess.” Chase shrugged.

{If I’m going to have a magic geared toward a single purpose, there are worse purposes to aspire to.}

“But…okay, if that’s how it works…” Chase bit his lip as he thought. “Could you…maybe find some way to, like, teleport us to where Schneep is? Instead of having to walk across this hellscape?”

JJ blinked. {Maybe…} He closed his eyes. It couldn’t be too hard. That’s what his magic is for, after all. And if they could find the doctor instantly, they could help him easier. JJ took a deep breath, placing his hands flat on the rocky surface of the ground. Almost instantly, circles began pulsing blue around them, gently spreading color through the stony landscape. The two of them felt the ground shift, and then it gave way. They fell for who knows how long, but eventually they landed on a hard surface with an oof-inducing thump.

Chase stood up first, taking in their new surroundings. They were…uncomfortably familiar. A long hallway of black walls, red lightbulbs dangling from the ceiling providing the only illumination. The sound of static crackled through the air. It looked and felt like an simpler version of the halls in Anti’s lair. Chase shuddered. At least this one didn’t have eyes.

JJ clambered to his feet. {Well. Where to now?}

“Well. Left or right?”

{The static is coming from the right.}

“That way, then.” If this place mimicked fears and bad memories, then there was nothing that fell into those categories better than Anti. And static was a side effect of him, so it seemed like a safe bet.

But as the two of them walked toward the static, they began hearing more than just the white noise. There were…voices. In the static. They sounded angry, and…familiar. Eventually, the hallway opened up into a dead-end square room. Chase and JJ stopped in the doorway, processing the sight before them.

Schneep was in the center of the room, on his knees. He was bent over, and his arms were wrapped around his head, hands pressed to his ears. Around him were vague static silhouettes, the shape of a human. Sometimes they’d flicker and become an actual person. The static in the room was deafening, but it couldn’t drown out the angry voices, each of which came from one of the silhouettes.

“D͏i̸e̸!͡”

“Di̡e ̵i̧n͢ a̵ fir͞e!”

“You'r̡e ̸w̧e̴ak.”

“Y̵ou'r̴e a ͟f̡ai̴l̡u̷re̵!̕”

“All ̶y̧ou͠ do is h̷u̧rt͡ p̶ȩople̛!”

“Es tut mir Leid.” Schneep sounded like he was sobbing. “Es tut mir Leid!”

{Chase…} JJ said hesitantly. {That’s _your_ voice.}

Chase nodded slowly, listening to the silhouettes—which, he now recognized, were him, if he’d been filled with static.

“Dr͝ow͏n ̶an͠d̨ d̵ię!̨”

“L̶ia͡r.”

“T̴r͢ait̵o̸r̨.”

“M͞urde̸r̛e̕r̵.”

“Es tut mir Leid, es tut mir Leid!” Schneep wailed. “Bitte vergib mir!”

{I don’t understand. What’s—}

“He shot me,” Chase remembered.

{He what?!}

“It—it was Anti’s plan,” Chase explained. “Anti can’t go after people unless they’re mentally weak. And he thought Schneep was pretty mentally strong, so he thought…that the best way to get inside his head was to make him feel guilty. Like…like if he shot one of his best friends. So, he made a plan to trick him into doing that.” Chase fell silent. “I think he thinks he killed me.”

JJ looked absolutely stunned at this news. {I…I didn’t know.}

“Of course you didn’t.”

{Why didn’t you tell Jack and I?}

“Because…I don’t know.” Chase closed his eyes. “Because this is why I think it’s all my fault, and you’re both so insistent on saying it’s not that it would feel…it would feel like a ‘ha, so there’ moment. Then you would instantly try to say it’s not, and it would feel…hollow. Like you’re reassuring a kid.”

{Chase.} Jameson’s tone made Chase open his eyes again. {Our reassurances are _not_ hollow platitudes. It was Anti’s plan. And he used you for it. It. Is. Not. Your. Fault. But…I can see how you can think it was. So, in that case, if you wish to make everything right…} Two blue circles spun out of nowhere. {Then I think doing something like this will do just that.}

Chase stared at him. Then his eyes hardened. “Well, then. You’re gonna do the stop-everything thing?” JJ nodded. “Then do it.”

Jameson turned away from Chase and back toward the room. The circles grew in brightness, lines of runes shooting outward. Then they flew forward, bursting and filling the room with blue light. When the light faded, the silhouettes were gone, and so was the static. Schneep was left in the same position as before, slightly rocking a bit.

Chase ran into the room, JJ right behind. The two of them knelt next to Schneep, who had his eyes shut tight. Chase hesitated for a moment. He didn’t want to say anything, that would no doubt have a negative reaction after what just happened. So instead, he slowly reached out and wrapped one arm around Schneep. The contact made him bite back a crawling, itching wave of discomfort, but fuck it. He could handle a minute for his friend.

It seemed to work. Schneep relaxed, if only a little bit. He slowly blinked open his eyes, though he didn’t take his hands away from his ears. The first thing he saw was JJ, sitting next to him. JJ gave a little wave, a flutter of the fingers. He didn’t say anything either, maybe because Schneep would’ve freaked out at hearing a voice in his head.

Schneep tilted his head, eyes narrow. Wary, suspecting a trick. He realized that someone must’ve been holding him, and craned his head backwards. Upon seeing it was Chase, his eyes widened. His mouth opened, but nothing came out except for a strangled squeak.

“It’s fine,” Chase murmured. “It’s fine.” And he didn’t say anything else.

After a tense moment, Schneep seemed to realize Chase wasn’t going to shout at him like the silhouettes had. He slowly removed his hands from his ears, still bracing for a sudden attack. Still nothing. “Es tut mir Leid,” Schneep muttered.

Chase knew that one. He was pretty sure it meant something like ‘I’m sorry.’ “It’s okay,” he said. “I forgive you.” Because that was what Schneep needed to hear. Even if what had happened had all been a trick, he still felt guilty for it. So, it was time to ease that just a bit.

Schneep crumpled. He leaned against Chase, burrowing his face in his shirt. Chase didn’t move. He was afraid that if he did, his screaming instincts would take over and he would push Schneep away. And nobody wanted that right now.

After a few moments, Schneep pulled back. “We’re going to take you home,” Chase said. “Are you ready to go home?”

Tears instantly welled up in Schneep’s eyes. He nodded.

“Alright, then. JJ? You ready?”

Jameson nodded. He lay down on the floor, and Chase and Schneep followed his lead. A similar runic design from making the entrance appeared above each of them, though now the runes were different, and the triangles pointed outward. There was a flash of blue light, and the Nightmare was empty.

* * *

They’d entered the Nightmare at a little after two in the afternoon. It was now approaching six, and Jack still hadn’t moved. Well, he’d gotten a snack and grabbed his phone, but that was the only time. He was afraid that if he wasn’t there, something could happen to them. He didn’t know what, but when dealing with Anti anything was possible.

He was starting to worry, but then the blue light appeared. At first a gentle glow, outlining all of their bodies. Followed by an increase in intensity, then a flash. Chase flew into a sitting position, gasping. He took a few deep, shuddery breaths, then grabbed the nearest blanket and wrapped it around him. JJ sat up a bit slower, shaking his head. He brushed away the remains of the blue tears that had appeared when they’d entered the Nightmare. He looked at them curiously, then shrugged.

“You’re back!” Jack gasped. “What happened? Did you…?”

A small sound, halfway between a whimper and a groan, came from the bed. Jack stiffened, then spun around in the chair. Schneep was blinking his eyes. The static was gone, it was just regular blue, and he was blinking. His hand came up, slowly, trembling, and wiped away the last of the static tears. Unlike Chase and JJ, they’d left a permanent mark. There was now scarred lines, mimicking the shape of tears, following the path the static had taken. But he was—he was awake.

“Hen?” Jack asked, almost scared to say anything. “H-Henrik?”

Schneep’s head rolled towards him. “…Jack?” His voice was hoarse and rough, but he’d said something.

“Henrik!” Jack grabbed Schneep’s hand in excitement. “You’re back! Oh thank fucking god, you’re back! Oh my god!” A massive weight had just been lifted from his shoulders. Breathing was a bit easier now.

“Jack.” Schneep squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them wide again. “Something is wrong. Something is wrong.”

Jack’s smile faded a bit. “What’s wrong?”

“I cannot—I cannot see you.”

His heart stopped. Jack could only gape for a moment. He looked back at JJ and Chase, still sitting on the floor, but they looked as shocked as he was. “You…you can’t?” Jack asked. “Can you…see anything at all?”

Schneep hesitated for a moment. “Statisch.”

You didn’t have to know German to figure out what that meant. “And that’s—that’s all you can see?”

Schneep nodded. “It is everywhere.” His eyes were moving, rapidly darting back and forth and up and down. “I cannot—I can hear, I can feel, but I cannot—where am I?”

“You’re in my apartment,” Jack said. “Do you…do you know what happened?”

“Chase—”

“I’m right here,” Chase piped up. He climbed to his feet, walking over to stand next to Jack. “You missed an epic rescue mission.”

Schneep laughed hoarsely. “I can tell, I can tell, your voice is back. You are…” The small smile he’d gained dropped away again. “Chase, I had—I had very strange dreams. I am—I’m sorry.”

“They weren’t dreams,” Chase said sadly. “It’s…a long story. Maybe JJ can write out an explanation and we’ll read it to you. He’s a lot better at explaining things. And I told you I forgave you, didn’t I?”

Schneep’s eyes got watery at that. “Thank you,” he whispered. Then, after a moment of silence, he started to move. “I need to sit up.”

“I don’t think you can, dude,” Jack said. “You haven’t really moved in, like, four months.”

“Four—?!” Schneep choked. “What happened? Did my muscles, did they waste away?”

“No, don’t worry, we all took care of that,” Jack said reassuringly. “Mostly JJ. Speaking of which…” Jack turned around. “Stop sitting on the floor and get over here! This is a tender moment you need to be a part of!”

JJ chuckled at that, standing up. He walked over to the other side of the bed and grabbed Schneep’s other hand, giving it a tight squeeze.

Schneep closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. “There is nothing here,” he muttered. “And that is good.” He opened his eyes again, though he might as well have kept them shut. “What happened while I was asleep?”

Jack grinned. “Well. We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”


	11. Normalcy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group tries to go back to some sort of normal after everything that's happened. It takes some time.

“Hey Chase, I got you something.”

Chase looked up from his phone as Jack entered the apartment, shutting the door behind him. He set a box next to him where he was sitting on the couch. Chase blinked at it slowly. “What did I do?”

“You didn’t do anything, I just thought it was something you needed.” Jack smiled. “Well? Are you gonna open it?”

“Uh…sure.” With some effort, Chase peeled away the tape holding the flaps of the box closed. He opened it and stared inside. “You got me a blanket?”

“Well, it’s not just a normal blanket.” Jack pulled the folded fabric out of the box and draped it over Chase’s shoulders. Chase looked mildly surprised at how heavy it was. “It’s a weighted blanket. I think it’s supposed to be used for helping anxiety and stuff like that, but it can also, like, simulate physical contact without actually being physical contact.”

“…oh.” Chase pulled the blanket closer. The weight did actually feel…really nice. “You went out and got this for me? You really shouldn’t have.”

“Well, I ordered it online,” Jack explained. “Just went down to pick it up from the front desk of the building. They really should deliver packages directly to the apartments, it can be kinda tricky to carry a fifteen-pound package up here even with the elevator.” He paused. “Do you like it?”

“Yeah.” Chase smiled just a bit. “Thanks, Jack.”

“No problem.” Jack made an okay sign with his hand. “If you need anything else, just tell me. I’m gonna go check on the others.”

“Okay. Um, again, thank you. A lot.” Chase said awkwardly, picking up his phone again.

Jack waved at him as he crossed through the living room and into the kitchen. JJ was sitting at the round kitchen table, its surface basically hidden beneath the books. All four of the magic books were open, various pens placed between the pages to keep them from swinging closed. JJ was leaning over one, intent on reading. “Hey JJ,” Jack said, making him look up. “Need anything?”

Jameson shook his head. _No, but I appreciate you offering._

“Alright. Whatcha working on?”

 _Just looking for anything that could help._ JJ tapped the page he was reading. _This book seems to be about amulets, but there may be something inside. After all, doesn’t he wear a pair of them?_

“Yeah.” Jack shivered. “White, teardrop-shaped, some sort of green scribbles on them. They’re broken.” He’d seen them frequently enough to remember their appearance.

 _Right._ JJ nodded. _If we knew what they were for, maybe we’d know more about him._

“Well, good luck dude,” Jack said, making his voice lighthearted. “I’m gonna go check on Henrik, want to take a break and come?”

Something sad flickered through Jameson’s eyes. _No, I’m afraid I can’t._

“…oh. Right.” Jack backed away. “That’s understandable. But we need to figure out some way of getting around this soon.”

_I agree. But not right now. See you soon, Jack._

“See ya.”

It was a short walk down the hallway to the same spare room that Schneep had been staying in for the past three and a half months. Except now, there was actually someone living there instead of just existing, sleeping. Jack opened the door slowly. “Hey Hen, are you—”

There was a surprised yell, which was accompanied by something hurtling toward the door. Jack hurriedly closed it, hand still on the knob, and heard the clatter of something plastic hitting the door and falling to the ground. He swung it open again and poked his head inside. “Did you just throw the clock at me?”

“Oh. Jack.” Schneep’s shoulders suddenly slumped. “I am sorry, it is force of habit. The clock was the closest object.”

“Totally understandable.” Jack bent over and picked up the small, battery-powered clock. It still seemed functional. Though only time would tell if he could still tell time. Jack smiled a bit at that thought, then walked over and replaced the clock on the nightstand next to the bed where Schneep was currently sitting. “You doin’ okay?”

Schneep laughed dryly. “Well, there are good things and there are bad things. The good thing is that I am not stuck in that place anymore. The bad thing is that I cannot fucking see.”

“Yeah, guess that’s true.” Jack sat on the bed, near the foot. Schneep’s shoulders raised at the shifting of weight. It was…odd, almost unsettling, that Schneep wasn’t looking at him. His head was turned in his general direction, but his eyes were staring directly forward, not seeing anything. The strange effect was compounded by the scars he had, the ones that looked like tears coming from his eyes. “How’s the, uh, lessons coming?”

“You mean this?” Schneep waved the book he’d been holding. “I’m afraid it is going very bad. They do not read like letters, they are just bumps.” He pursed his lips. “When I said I wanted to know three languages, this is not what I meant.”

“Maybe you just need some help,” Jack suggested. “I’d be happy to try.”

“That would be appreciated.” Schneep hugged the book to his chest, leaning backwards onto the headboard of the bed. “But not right now. I want to do something.”

“Well, like what?”

“I do not know, just—just something!” Schneep snapped.

“Whoa, hey. I didn’t mean to upset you.” Jack scooted closer to him until he was able to put a hand on his shoulder.

Schneep jumped at the unannounced contact, but settled into it easily, putting his hand on top of Jack’s. “I know, I know, I am sorry.” He sighed deeply. “I am just…frustrated.”

“Maybe you could channel that into something productive?” Jack asked. “JJ’s busy right now, but I think if you asked, he’d be glad to…I dunno, have help with his work.”

“How?” Schneep asked, his voice almost bitter.

“Uh…” Jack didn’t have an answer for that. Until they worked something out, communication between Schneep and JJ would be…difficult, to say the least. Jameson couldn’t speak for Schneep to hear, and Schneep couldn’t see Jameson’s signing anymore. There had to be a way around this, but in the week since Schneep had woken up, they hadn’t been able to find anything.

“That is what I thought,” Schneep sighed. For a moment, he was silent. And then: “Fuck it. I need to get out of here.” He swiveled around to the side of the bed and stood up.

“What—Henrik, what’re you doing?” Jack stood up too.

“I need to get out of here. You didn’t leave anything on the floor, did you?” Without waiting for an answer, Schneep walked straight across the room. He had the route from the bed to the door memorized, and the only difficulty came when he got close enough to said door, having to reach out to find out how open it was. He managed to grab the edge of it where it had been left ajar and walked out.

“Dude, wait!” Jack half-ran until he was even with Schneep. “I’d like to think you just mean out of the room, but you didn’t did you?”

Schneep kept walking down the hallway, fingers gently brushing along the wall so he could keep track of where it ended. “No, I did not, my friend. I have been awake and in this world for seven days, and I am thoroughly sick of this apartment. How have you three stayed cooped up in here for so much longer? I need to see—well, I need to experience the world again. I want to feel sunshine and air that doesn’t come through a tiny little glass.”

“You can’t be serious!” The two of them had entered the living room at this point. “Hen, I-I-I think you’re right, I mean, it would probably be good, but it’s not safe! Anti is still out there, and-and you—”

“Blind people have managed to get around in the wide open for a long time,” Schneep retorted.

“Hey, uh, I’m in here.”

Jack jumped. He’d been focusing on the situation with Schneep and had forgotten Chase was still in here. He looked over to where he was sitting on the couch, still wrapped in his new blanket, still staring at his phone. “Sorry, dude,” Jack said. “Didn’t mean to ignore you.”

“It’s fine,” Chase shrugged. “But, uh, what’s goin’ on?”

“I am trying to leave, and Jack is not letting me!” Schneep half-yelled.

“I’m not ‘not letting you,’ I just really think you shouldn’t!” Jack said defensively. “It’s dangerous out there! And confusing!”

“Well, maybe you could come with me and make sure I do not get to the confusing part!”

“I—I didn’t—that’s not—I wasn’t—” Jack stumbled over his words.

“I can go with you, doc,” Chase piped up. He unwrapped himself from the blanket and got to his feet, tucking his phone in his pocket. “It…I mean, we have to go outside sometime, right? Vitamin D and fresh air and shit.”

“You two—!” Jack didn’t even finish his sentence, just walked over the the kitchen entrance and poked his head inside. “JJ, I need backup over here.”

JJ looked up from the book. He tapped it insistently.

“Sorry, dude, this is important. It shouldn’t take too long.”

Jameson exhaled deeply, then closed three of the books but left the one he was reading open, with a pen tucked inside to mark the page. He pushed his chair back from the table, stood up, and joined Jack and the others in the living room.

“JJ, I need your support,” Jack said. “These two want to go outside, and I keep telling them it’s not safe. Right?”

Jameson considered this. _I suppose it’s not entirely. But if they want to leave, they should be able to. In fact, we’ve all been in here for a while._

“So you’re saying it’s dangerous?” Jack summarized.

Schneep make a sound of disbelief. “That was too long a pause to just be an agreement.”

“Cheater,” Chase mumbled. “He actually said something along the lines of ‘yeah, but we should still be able to, actually let’s all go.’”

“He didn’t say we all need to go!” Jack said, a note of…desperation entering his voice.

 _Jack._ Jameson signed his name firmly, spelling it out. _We’ve all been stuck in here for a month and a half. That’s not healthy for anyone. I would certainly like to go outside and relieve some stress, and it sounds like everyone else would too. You’re welcome to stay inside, of course._

A strangled sound escaped Jack’s throat. He wasn’t going to win this. So the real question was, why was he even so attached to staying inside in the first place, when he really agreed with everything they were saying? “I…didn’t…” he sighed. “It’s…not safe to be alone, no matter where we go. I think…I think that’s even worse than leaving in the first place. So…if everyone wants to go, I…I guess I’ll come with you.”

“Great!” Schneep said, clapping his hands. “Fantastic. Do any of you know where my coat is?”

* * *

Five minutes later, and the four of them were standing on the sidewalk outside. It was unusually sunny for a November day, though there was still a chilly breeze that occasionally ran through the streets. Jack and Schneep were standing close to each other, with Schneep holding tight to Jack’s arm. JJ was also close to them, though Chase stood a bit farther away.

“Okay. So, we’re out here,” Jack said. His eyes were darting up and down the street, locking on to every moving object before eventually looking away again. “Now what?”

“I…don’t know,” Chase admitted, pulling on his bandanna to make sure it was tied tight. “We can go for a walk?”

“Is there not still a park?” Schneep asked. “I would very much like to go there.”

“Yeah, there is. It didn’t close or anything, doubt it would.” Chase turned to JJ. “What d’you think?”

 _That seems like a wonderful idea,_ JJ signed. _Come on, no time like the present._

Jameson started down the street, Chase following. Schneep squeezed Jack’s arm. “Jack…the other two are walking away. I’m assuming you are going to follow them?”

“Y-yeah…right.” Jack took a deep breath, then slowly started walking after them. The city streets hadn’t been this…open before, had they? 

As they strolled through the city streets, most of them slowly started to relax. Sure, their little group was attracting occasional attention from passerby, most of them staring at Jameson’s mask or the way Schneep stared at nothing. But they didn’t notice. Chase and JJ fell into relaxed conversation, and after some time Chase began translating JJ’s signs for Schneep. Schneep himself, meanwhile, couldn’t stop smiling. He loved this. Loved hearing the sounds of the city instead of hearing nightmares and static, loved being able to feel the breeze and the warm day.

Jack, however, was feeling increasingly on edge. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt like anything could come at them from any direction at any time. He had to hurry to keep up with the others, but he wanted to slow down, maybe stop moving altogether and just watch for something to happen.

This was not helped by reaching the wide-open green space that was the park. Even though there were rows of trees planted, and the park was still small enough to see the surrounding city buildings, there was still nothing in all directions. Jack’s head was practically on a swivel, it was turning around so swiftly and frequently. But he forced himself to take deep breaths and stay calm. He couldn’t ruin this for the others. They were having so much fun.

They settled at a picnic table near the playground, Chase and JJ on one bench and Jack and Schneep on the other. _I’ve had a great time,_ JJ signed, eyes crinkling in the way they did when he was smiling under the mask. _Henrik, this was a good idea, thank you._

“JJ’s having fun,” Chase translated. “Schneep? He says this was a good idea and says thank you.”

“Oh!” Schneep’s face lit up. “You are welcome, my friend! See, I know that fresh air has many benefits, I am a doctor, why do you not trust me?”

Chase laughed, but his mind was clearly elsewhere. He was staring at the playground with a faraway look. His phone was in his hand, and he played with it nervously.

 _Is something wrong, Chase?_ Jameson asked.

“Oh!” Chase snapped to attention. “Uh, can you sign that again?” After JJ did so, Chase sighed. “I dunno, I just…” He looked down at the table surface. “I’ve been thinking about…about calling Stacy lately.”

Everyone went silent. “Well, why do you not?” Schneep asked gently.

“I dunno, I mean, what do I say? ‘Sorry I haven’t been able to take the girls for the weekend lately, I’ve been mind-controlled by a demon’? She’d think I’m crazy.” He looked up. “Did you guys…tell her anything? When I…you know.”

“In a way.” Schneep leaned forward onto the table. “We tried to say that you went away for something important, but she saw right through that. So instead, we just told her that you had disappeared, and that while we knew the reason, it was not safe for her to know more. She did tell the police, but she did not tell them that we were involved.”

A smile ghosted over Chase’s face. “Yeah, that sounds like her.” He glanced over at the phone. “I guess I…I don’t _have_ to tell her too much, do I? But…I mean, I kinda want to. Communication is good, right?”

 _Do what you feel is best, Chase,_ Jameson signed gently.

“It is, but the choice is yours, my friend,” Schneep said softly.

“Yeah…you’re both right,” Chase sighed. “Jack, what do you think?” When Jack didn’t answer, Chase looked over at him. “Hello? Dude, you alright?”

Jack startled. “What? Sorry, sorry, sorry, I just—what were you saying?” He wasn’t even looking at the others, all his attention turned outward. His shoulders were tense, his fingers drumming a nervous rhythm on the surface of the table. “I’m gonna—I’m gonna go sit over there, I’ll be—I’ll be—I’ll be right back.” And with that, he stood up and walked over to the nearest tree, sitting on the ground with his back against it and his knees drawn up to his chin.

“That’s…weird,” Chase muttered, exchanging a look with Jameson. “Uh, Schneep, Jack just…left but we can still see him and he looks…nervous. To say the least.”

Schneep frowned. “Well, we can’t have that.” He slid off the bench. “At least one of you needs to get me over to where he is now.”

“Yeah, let’s all go.”

It was only a short walk over to where Jack was sitting. Once there, the three others sat down, all facing him. Jack didn’t even look at them, just looking around them for…something.

“Hey bro, you doing alright?” Chase asked.

“Huh? Yeah yeah, I’m okay,” Jack said, still not looking at them.

“Jack, even I can see that you are upset,” Schneep said gently.

“I’m not upset, I’m not, I’m just—” Jack broke off. His eyes were going back and forth, darting around the scenery wildly. He was rocking gently.

 _You’re right, you’re not upset, you’re having a panic attack,_ Jameson signed, eyes widening.

“What? Panic? No no, I’m—I’m—”

“Panicking,” Chase supplied. “Jack. You don’t have to tell us what’s wrong. But at least tell us that something _is_ wrong.”

There was a long moment of silence. Jack finally settled on looking at the others. “I—I don’t want to make you guys upset,” he finally admitted. “You’re all relaxed, and having a good time, and I’m over here, just fucking…I don’t like this. I-I don’t like this. I d-don’t. I don’t like this. I don’t li-like it.” His words became more choked up with each repetition.

Schneep moved first, blindly leaning forward with a hand outstretched until it found Jack’s knee. From there, he scooted over to Jack, ending up next to him. “Tell me if this makes you not good, okay?” he asked, then leaned on Jack, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.

Jack tensed at first, but soon melted into the contact. “No, that’s…that’s the opposite of not good,” he mumbled, tilting his head so it rested on top of Schneep’s. “Thanks.”

“Is no problem.”

 _Jack, are you comfortable telling us anything about how you feel right now?_ JJ asked slowly.

“I…” Jack took a deep breath. “I feel…like I can’t keep track of anything. Like there’s something bad about to happen, but I don’t know what, o-or where it’s gonna come from, because there’s no—it’s easier when I can see, like, an entrance or something, because then I know where—but there aren’t any doors or windows out here, and it-it could be anywhere!”

“You are breathing fast,” Schneep suddenly said. “Calm down a bit. Do it more slowly.”

Jack did his best, trying to take slow, shaking breaths. “I just—I want everything to go back to normal, so I thought…maybe if I didn’t—I don’t fucking know, talk about this, then it would just—”

“That’s not how it works,” Chase said firmly. “Things don’t just go away if you don’t talk about them. If anything, they just get stronger.” His voice softened. “Jack…you’ve been through a lot. We all have, and you’re not…you’re not any less important than the rest of us. If something freaks you out, then tell us so we can avoid it.”

“But—”

“It’s what you did for me, isn’t it? It’s what you did for Jays and it’s what you’re doing for Schneep. If you honestly thought we’d be more upset about having to change something than about giving you a fucking panic attack, then you’re completely wrong. What kind of friends would we be if that was the case?”

Jack made a small whimper sound. There were tears in his eyes, and though he was aware he could blink them away, he didn’t. “Thank you…” He buried his face in Schneep’s shoulder, who made no effort to pull away and instead reached up and started running his hand through Jack’s hair comfortingly. “Thank you, guys…”

“I told you, it is not a problem,” Schneep said with a smile. “Do you want to go home?”

“…yes.”

“Then we will go home.”

After a moment more, Jack pulled away from Schneep, standing up. The others followed suit. “I…you’re…you’re all great,” Jack said. “You’re all…I love you guys.”

 _And we love you too, Jack,_ JJ signed cheerfully. _If you ever wish to talk, we’ll be ready to listen._

“It might…be a while.” Jack reached up and rubbed his right eye. It’s moments like this when he can feel the phantom pain.

 _And that’s alright,_ JJ assured him. _We’ll all share in our own time._

The four of them walked back in silence, but it didn’t matter. They didn’t need to speak to understand.

* * *

Weeks passed. They eventually worked out a system for leaving the apartment. A pair would always go, leaving another pair behind. Jack was trying to readjust to open spaces, and Schneep was trying to adjust to his new disability. They were all slowly starting to open up about what happened to all of them.

They also realized that funds were running low. An unfortunate set of circumstances, since Jack and Chase were still “missing” and couldn’t do much without attracting the police, who’d ask questions they honestly couldn’t answer without sounding insane. Schneep also couldn’t return to his job; surgery was one of those jobs that required sight, as did many others. Jack was considering returning to his YouTube channel, but until he worked up the courage to do so, JJ took it upon himself to find some way to earn money for this new household.

He and Chase were out one evening in early January, searching for a place of business that was hiring and also wouldn’t mind having a strange, silent man working for them. It was slow going, but they were both optimistic.

“We should probably start heading back soon,” Chase said, checking the time on his phone. “Unless we want Jack to cook.”

Jameson shuddered at the thought. _Alright, but if I may…I need to use the bathroom._

“Alright. I think this place has one, might as well. I’ll wait here.” Chase leaned against the wall.

 _I’ll be back in five minutes._ With that, JJ turned and walked back into the office building they’d just come from.

And five minutes later, he walked back out, only to find Chase wasn’t there. He froze at first, then trampled down the surge of fear that had immediately arisen. That wasn’t any guarantee that something bad had happened, maybe he just…he couldn’t think of another explanation.

His head whipped side to side, and barely caught a glimpse of someone rounding the nearby corner. Though he only just saw the person, he could tell that it was Chase just from the build and the brief color of the hair. He broke into a run, speeding to catch up with him.

He turned the corner, seeing Chase leaning against the wall once again. But wait. He wasn’t wearing his bandanna and wristbands. And there was nothing underneath. Instead, there were a pair of necklaces, white teardrop-shaped pendants—

“Hey, Jackson.” He smiled. “Did you m̷i̕ss m͠e̵͢?͞”

Chase woke up lying on the ground of an alleyway. His head felt fuzzy, and when he tried to stand up he suddenly got dizzy and had to try three times to get to his feet. What…happened? He pressed his hand to his swimming head, and something brushed against his face. He jolted, then looked at his wrist. The string had come loose from underneath the wristband. And…on the other wrist too. He looked down. A string was dangling from underneath his bandanna, too.

Panic stopped his heart. “JJ?” he called. “Jameson? Can you—can you clap or something if you can hear me?” When there was no obvious answer, he ran out of the alleyway and shouted, “Jameson?! Give me some sign you can hear me! _Jameson?!_ ”

He looked around. No sign of Jameson. But there was something to his left. He felt a sort of…familiar tingling coming from that way, a sense that made his stitches feel hot. He hesitated for a split second before running toward it.

He rounded the corner, and the feeling increased. Nobody was there. But then Chase looked down, and his blood became ice.

Lying on the sidewalk was Jameson’s mask.

“No…” Chase breathed. “No, no, you didn’t…” He scooped up the mask. It looked the same as it always did, except for the fact that it wasn’t on JJ. “Shit!” He reached into his pocket and sent a text to Jack: **We have a problem.**

He didn’t even wait for a reply before turning around and sprinting back toward the apartment. They weren’t going to let this happen again. _He_ wasn’t going to let this happen again.

That bastard wasn’t going to touch any of them ever again.


	12. The Notion of the End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Anti once again appears to attack, the group ventures back into his lair, and find a surprise within.

Chase burst through the apartment door, skidding to a halt. “We have a problem!”

“Yeah, I got your text.” Jack, who’d been anxiously pacing the length of the living room, stopped and faced Chase. “What happened?” His eyes flicked toward the open, empty door just before Chase closed it. “Where’s JJ?”

Chase made a strangled sort of choking sound. He didn’t say anything, just shoved something toward Jack, who stumbled at the force of the push before he caught it. He looked down at the item in his hands and suddenly felt very cold. Jameson’s mask. The one he hardly ever took off, and definitely never in public. He wouldn’t leave it behind. “Oh god,” Jack whispered.

“What is happening?” Schneep stepped into the living room from the kitchen area, hand resting on the wall.

Jack looked over to him. “I-I don’t know, something happened to JJ. He…lost his mask, somehow.” He crumpled said mask in his hands, twisting the fabric nervously.

Schneep’s eyes widened. “He would not _lose_ that.”

“I know!” Chase cried. He bit his lip and pulled his hat down further. “Th-there’s something else, I—I felt _him,_ Jack, Hen.”

Jack stared at him, his heart about to stop. Schneep gaped, suddenly seeming to stumble and lean against the wall. “Are you sure?” Jack breathed.

“Of course I am! I’d recognize that!” Chase started rubbing his wrists, the unconscious movement only drawing attention the the way he was shaking slightly. “You—you know what this means? H-he— _he_ has him. I left him alone for fucking five minutes and he got taken!”

“Is not your fault, Chase,” Schneep said fiercely. “He was quiet for too long, he must have been planning this for a while.”

Chase looked away and remained silent.

“We…we can get him back, right?” Jack asked.

Chase broke his silence with a hysterical laugh. “How?! Jays found _us,_ remember? _He_ saved _us_ , remember?! Because he’s the guy who suddenly got magic that can do just about anything! How can _we_ help?!”

Jack took a deep breath. His heart was already racing just at the thought of getting anywhere near that demon again. But if Jameson had come for him, then damn it, he was going to return the favor for his friend. “Well, we know where his lair is, right? We know how to get there?”

“What are we going to do once we’re in there? That place is a maze, you’d get lost immediately!”

Jack made eye contact with Chase. “But you wouldn’t, right?”

Chase stumbled backward until he hit the wall. He’d gone white. Jack felt a curl of guilt in his stomach for playing that card, but it was true, wasn’t it? “…yes,” Chase said softly. “But it’s not just that. The walls have eyes, literally in some places. He’d know we were coming.”

“My fucking god, Chase!” Jack jumped as Schneep, who’d been quiet for most of the conversation, exploded angrily. “Jameson is our friend, we are not leaving him! We are not leaving anyone again! And since you feel so awful about everything that happened to you and what you did, why do you not do something to make up for it?!” Schneep closed his eyes, taking slow, deep breaths. Then he turned around and disappeared back into the kitchen.

Jack and Chase exchanged glances. There was a sudden clatter from the kitchen, and the two of them hurried to follow Schneep.

A few loose plastic plates had been knocked from the dirty dish pile on the counter down to the floor, and a cylinder of various kitchen instruments had been tipped over. Schneep was feeling around the counter, until his hands found the knife block, which he pulled toward him.

“What are you doing?!” Jack cried. 

Schneep turned in the direction of the voice. “Jack, I know I’m fucking useless, but I have to try and do something to help, even if I end up failing!”

Jack felt a twist in his heart. “You’re not useless.”

“But dude, can you maybe step away from the knives?” Chase asked nervously. “They’re sharp.”

“I am not an idiot, Chase, I know that. But damn if I am going to confront that monster unarmed and alone.” 

Chase paused, watching silently as Schneep felt around the knife handles. “You’re not going to be alone.” The words came out small. He straightened and repeated, firmer this time. “You’re not going to be alone. I-I’m coming with you. You’re right, we’re not leaving Jameson. I…I want to help.”

Jack gave Chase an encouraging smile. Chase was still pale, but he now looked determined. “We’re going to get him back,” Jack promised. “All of us. But, uh, Schneep? Maybe don’t grab the knife? I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Schneep scoffed. “I am not going to accidentally stab myself.”

“Okay, maybe, but, uh, I’d rather you didn’t take that chance.”

Schneep turned in Jack’s direction and glared. Jack quietly concluded that, even if Schneep wasn’t actually looking at him, that didn’t deprive the glare of any of its scorching power. “Or…at least let me help you,” Jack offered. He hadn’t been too fond of knives, not ever since October, but he’d been getting better. He thought he was comfortable enough to make sure Schneep didn’t slice himself up.

“Okay, fine,” Schneep grumbled. “Chase, do you want to take one?”

Chase shook his head. “No. I…I still know where my gun is.”

Schneep was silent for a moment, then nodded. “That would work. You two know how to get to his place where he hides?”

“Yeah, I think so,” Jack said, looking at Chase.

“Definitely,” Chase mumbled.

“Then we should not hesitate too long.”

And so it was that only an hour later, Chase, Jack, and Schneep had wound their way through city streets to the industrial edge of the city. They stood in front of a low concrete building with wires and cables snaking around it. None of them moved closer to it. Jack and Chase were plagued with phantom memories of what had happened within, and Schneep, while never having been there before, could still feel the angry, hostile atmosphere the building seemed to give off.

After a while, Chase took a deep breath, checked the safety on his handgun, then said, “Well. We’ve come this far.”

“And we’re not leaving anyone behind,” Jack agreed.

Schneep didn’t say anything, just merely nodded, adjusting the kitchen knife he’d borrowed in his grip.

And the three of them stepped inside.

* * *

“Not much to s͝͞a̛͢y? What’s wrong? Cat got y̷̵ơ͏ur͢ t̸on͏̴g̕u̧e? Oh no, it was a ne̕e͟d͢͝l̴̵̕ę̸̕, wasn’t it?!”

Jameson’s head hit the metal wall with a sickening crack. He dazedly tried to blink the sudden burst of bright white out of his eyes, but wasn’t able to completely clear his head before a hand grabbed the back of his shirt collar and pulled him back. He choked, instinctively trying to pull away, but his struggles were subdued by the arm that wrapped around his torso, and the tip of a knife that poked against his throat.

“Aw, no m͟ag̡̢i̶͢ç͝͞, huh?” Anti’s voice was quiet, but the bitter hatred in it transcended volume. “Guess it’s not that u͏͏͠s͝͝ęf̸̨ul, then.”

Jameson swallowed as best as he could with the blade so close. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been trying to summon it. But the magic didn’t seem to want to respond, no matter how desperately he cried to it for help. Maybe it was because of Anti, whose half-solid, but strong, body gave out a constant buzzing vibe of dark magic. But Jameson thought it was something else. The magic jumped to action whenever his friends were in danger, but it didn’t seem to care about his desire to protect _himself._

“You know, I m̶ig̡h̷̴͡t have actually u̶̴n͏d͢͠er̸̨̕es̨ti̡m͏a̷͏͏ted͠ you,” Anti said. The knife point began trailing upwards along Jameson’s neck. Anti laughed at the way he stiffened, and started tracing idle patterns with the point against his cheek. “I thought you’d gi͠v͠e̢͝ ͞͝u͟p̸. If not after the stįt͞c̡h̕i̶͠͠n̡̧g, then after all the others were m̪̗̰̣̕i̲͔̳̖ͅn̟͈̬̦͕̘̟͞͠e̴̗̗͞. But no. You just h̶͝a̵̸͞d to keep going, just h̴a̛͟d̵ to become some sort of…mą̕̕g̷͟i͟c̨i̶̧̢a̶͟͝n̨͡.”

The blade stopped dancing across the surface of his skin and instead cut where it traced. Jameson shuddered as he felt warm liquid drip down his face. That wasn’t the first injury. He’d only been here a short time, but Anti had made the most of it. There was hardly a spot that wasn’t bloody or bruised. Anti seemed to know about his fear of needles as well, and Jameson had lost track of all the tiny puncture wounds.

“Well… you’ll g̢i̸̵v̧̛e̵͟ ̧up eve̴͠ntua̵ll̢̢y̨̛͞.” Anti seemed to shrug, then pulled the knife away. The reprieve didn’t last long, as the blade then started tracing the line of stitches across Jameson’s mouth, catching on the threads but never slicing through. A small part of Jameson hoped Anti would cut through them, but he knew that was too good to be true. Or if he did cut the stitches, it would only prelude something worse.

Suddenly, Anti stilled, the knife falling away and his grip loosening. He looked to the side, as if he could see beyond the metal walls of the small room. A grin split his face. “Ha. Seems the others are r͡i͏g̛h̴t̨ ͏on͞ ti̷̴m̵e͢͡.”

Jameson’s head jerked up, hoping he’d heard that right. The others were here? His joy quickly turned to sick fear.

Anti seemed to catch the widening of his eyes. His grin grew. “You stay hę̕r̡͝e͠ while I d̸̴͠e͢al̵͡ with them.” He shoved Jameson roughly to the floor, too quick for him to catch himself. Jameson cried out, the sound muffled as always, as the fall aggravated the injuries he already had.

Jameson lifted his head and watched as Anti crossed the room to the heavy metal door. He watched as Anti pulled it open and walked through—and then jumped and scrambled backwards as the world seemed to jolt and shudder and suddenly Anti was right in front of him again, the shadows on his face twisting, knife in hand. “On second thought, ju͝st ̴̢̢t͞o̷ ̴̕m̡̨a̸ke̵ ̨̨şu͠r̨͞e…”

Anti’s hand darted forward. Jameson instinctively ducked his head, holding up his arms to shield himself, but then he felt fingers wrap around his ankle. And then—

He screamed. He couldn’t help it, he had no other way to react to the sudden fiery agony that burst, shooting sharply through his ankle. His legs jerked, and he pulled them close to his chest, but that didn’t stop the wave after wave of solid pain.

“Don’t shriek like that, you’ll t͞ęa̕r̸ right through the stitches,” Anti said calmly, wiping down the blade of his knife with his sleeve. “And I worked s̵̢͢o h͝ard͡͠͞ on them.” A smile flashed across his face, and then he was gone. “I’ll be s̴ȩe͠͝i̷̕͟n͝g̕ ͡͏yo̧͠u,” came one last echo.

Jameson half-wished the others would just turn around and leave. Half-wished they wouldn’t find him. After all, could a trap be sprung if the bait was never taken?

* * *

“Everything looks the same,” Jack muttered, his gaze tracing along the metal walls, casting about through the red light.

“Well, it’s not,” Chase said, keeping his eyes straight ahead. “It’s built like a maze, but there are hidden patterns that he uses to get around. On the floors, mostly. Eventually you memorize which patterns go with which sections.”

“It smells like metal,” Schneep muttered. “And electricity. Are those part of the patterns, too?”

“Smell patterns?” There was a slight trace of a laugh in Chase’s voice. “Nah. It’s just visual. You’re…you’re still back there, right?”

“Chase, I am holding your hand, I do not think you could lose me.” The contact alone sort of worried Schneep. Because if Chase was scared enough to overcome his aversion, that meant he was _extremely_ on edge.

For a moment, everyone was quiet. Then Jack said, “Actually, this doesn’t look the same. The—the walls are different than last time. They don’t have…” he shuddered. “…eyes.”

“That’s a different section,” Chase said calmly.

“Wait, you were not joking about the walls having eyes earlier?!” Schneep asked, alarmed.

“No, I wasn’t, they did have them, but…not right now” Jack said slowly. His brows furrowed. “But last time…the walls had eyes right up to the exit. Entrance. Whatever. But anyway, if we came through the same way, then shouldn’t we see the…you know, eyes?”

“Oh, uh, no.” Chase, in the lead, looked back over his shoulder at Jack. “When I say it’s a different section…well, it’s kinda—you know, there’s a reason why this maze is usually so difficult to navigate?”

Jack wasn’t sure he wanted to ask, but he did anyway. “What’s that?”

“Well, the sections—”

There was a shaking. It traveled down the hall, past the group of three, and continued on, rattling the metal walls and throwing around the red lightbulbs that dangled from the ceiling.

“What was that?” Schneep asked, tightly gripping Chase’s hand and the kitchen knife.

Chase had suddenly gone very pale. “Fuck.” He laughed, sounding a bit manic. “See this is what I was talking abou—”

Another rumbling shake, like a contained earthquake. The floor bucked and kicked like a wild horse trying to throw off its rider, and slowly, you could see seams in the metal pulling apart. Jack staggered and fell against the nearest wall, only to feel it _tilt_ a bit.

“The sections move!” Chase shouted, just before another wave of shaking threw him off his feet and onto the floor. “Brace yourselves!”

But it was too late. The whole hallway was juddering in its frame, tremors severe enough to throw the three around. Parts of the hall tilted and rolled, others fell through to a deeper level of the maze. The air was filled with the metallic chorus of a thousand clattering metal sheets.

When the rumbling finally stopped and the hallways settled into a new configuration, Schneep uncurled himself from the ball he’d rolled into to stay safe. At some point he’d dropped the knife, but more importantly, he’d also dropped Chase’s hand.

“No no nein no nein nein—” Schneep fought off a wave of sheer panic and terror. The idea of a shifting maze was bad enough already, but he didn’t even have the benefit of a visual cue to tell what changed. “No, think! Denk nach, jetzt!”

The floor felt roughly the same, made the same sound as his footsteps had when he pounded on it with his fist. When he used the wall to pull himself into a standing position, that felt the same as well. But any number of things could be different, and he’d have no idea. And where were Chase and Jack? Half-leaning on the wall, Schneep took a few hesitant steps forward, sliding his feet along the ground. “H-hello? Are you there?!” he called.

There was what sounded like someone banging on the metal walls and floor. Schneep jumped. He hadn’t expected that sound to be so close to him. Then there was a voice: “Henrik? Oh god, you’re alright!”

“Yes, I—” Schneep stopped short. Yes, both Jack and Chase sometimes called him ‘Henrik.’ But that wouldn’t be their first instinct; both of them usually preferred ‘Schneep.’ And in a stressful situation like this, people would be going to their first instinct. He narrowed his eyes. “Who is there?”

Silence.

“You were al̷w̨͢ay̶̧ş̕ the s̴̕m̸͢a̸̷r̨̕t͡ one.”

Schneep cried out and backed up. That broken voice could only belong to one person. And if he was judging the distance correctly, that meant Anti was right in front of him.

“Oh, scared, d̛o̡ct͟o̶r̷?”

Anti laughed as Schneep whirled around. Now the voice was behind him! But—that laugh was next to him? “Where are you?!” Schneep cried, head turning wildly.

“Ev̵e͢r͏y̕͠wḩer̨̕e͡. Ņow̶̧ḩere̷͞͞. All around at͝ ͝on̷c̢͢͡e̶.” Anti’s voice bounced around, coming from behind, then in front, then seemingly right in his ear. Schneep couldn’t keep up with the movement, stumbling and scrambling away from wherever the source was, half-raising his arms in front to protect himself from whatever was bound to come. The next time Anti spoke, he sounded amused. “Whose i͏d̡͠͞e̵a̢̛ was it to bring a blind guy to a f̴͏i͢͏͞gh̷͝t?”

Schneep growled, suddenly feeling anger rise. “I decided to come myself. I will not let you get away with this!”

“You won’t?” Anti’s voice settled, sounding like he was in front of him, if a few feet away. “Then fucking d͏̨o̴͢ ̕͞so̶m̡͝͏e̴t̷̕h̸͟i̡͞n̴̸͏g̶͞͝ to stop me. I doubt you even c͞a̛͡n̸.͏”

“You—!” Schneep couldn’t help it. He lunged forward, toward the source of Anti’s voice. But after only a few steps, there suddenly wasn’t ground under his feet, and he cried out as he toppled forward, falling some ways before landing hard on the metal floor. He struggled to recover his breath, struggling to his hands and knees while Anti laughed.

“Oh, didn’t I ţ̡e̶l͡l̨͞ yo͟u̵͝ there was a hole there?” The world shivered with static, and then Schneep felt hands grab the lapels of his sweater and pull him upward. He grasped at the wrists and tried to pull away, but they might as well have been solid. “How p̧̭͎̖͖͠a͇̰̻͕͕t̟̖̤͖̫h͏̭̰̝͍̫̗ͅe̡̛̜͍̩̱t̖̱̝̘͈i̭̖̘̳̮c̴̡̞̪̰̬,” Anti spat. “You were a f̸̶̛a̡i͝ļu̷̢ŗe̴ before this, now you’re just e̡̡n̡̨t̵i͏̷̕re͝l͠y͏ ̛uş̶͞e̵͟l̸̢͠es̴̶s̷̨.”

Schneep flinched a bit. Anti always seemed to echo his worst thoughts back at him. “I…I am not—” He cried out as something sharp pierced his side. A warm stain began spreading across his sweater.

“Really? Then do something to ş̡ţ̷op̵͠ ͢͞m̡e̡!̵͢ Just t̨͞ry and g̶e̡t͢͝ ̴̨a̸͡w̡̨a͝͏͝y, why don’t you?” Anti suddenly let go, dropping Schneep. But before he could hit the floor, Anti grabbed the back collar of his sweater and began dragging him across the ground. Schneep choked, pulling the collar away from his throat so it wouldn’t strangle him. With his other hand he tried to find some purchase on the ground, legs scrambling as well, but there was nothing to catch on.

After too long, Anti stopped, roughly pulling Schneep close to him. “N̶̕o͏t̴̶̷h̵i̵̧ng,” he hissed. “I don’t know why I even b̴ot͞h̕͟͏e̢̡̛r͠͞e̷d with you. You two ha̛v̵̸e̸ ͞͡f͏u̡̕n̶ while I find your friends.” There was a metallic clunking sound, then Schneep was thrown forward, skidding across the floor. Before he could recover, something slammed shut, and everything went suddenly cold.

“F-fuck,” Schneep muttered, getting into a kneeling position. Really? There was no point during that encounter when he could’ve _done_ something? He couldn’t have even—wait. What had Anti said? ‘You two’…someone else was in here, in…what was presumably some sort of cell with him. Or maybe that was another trick, but what would be the point of tricking him twice? “Hello?” Schneep called. “Is someone there?”

For a moment, nothing. And then the slight sound of something shifting. Schneep’s shoulders raised, a bit guarded. “I-I cannot see anything, where are you?” He paused. “Jamie…is that you?”

A slight moment of nothing. And then there was a clanging sound, like someone banging their fist on the metal floor. Followed quickly by a shorter sound, then two more the same length as the first. Schneep recognized that deliberate pattern. Morse code, the letter Y to be specific. ‘Y’ as in ‘yes.’ Morse code as in the way Schneep and JJ had been communicating for the last month or so. “Oh my god,” Schneep muttered. “Jamie, I am coming, keep making sound so I know where you are.”

Another Morse ‘Y,’ then a steady stream of sound that seemed like JJ was hitting the floor repeatedly. Schneep was hesitant to stand up, so he began crawling toward the sound, hands searching the area in front of him in a wide sweeping pattern, in case there was something in front. It didn’t take too long for them to run into something warm and soft. The sounds stopped. “…Jamie?” Schneep asked softly, patting the soft thing. Yep, that felt like a person.

A hand wrapped around his wrist, and he felt the fingers tap out a pattern. Two long, a pause, one short. _Me._

Schneep realized there were tears filling his eyes, but he didn’t care. “J-Jamie,” he gasped. He clumsily lifted Jameson into a sitting position and pulled him into a tight hug. “W-we were worried…I-I didn’t know if I could…but I had to try! Are you okay?”

Jameson wrapped his arms around Schneep in turn. His hand made another tapping pattern on Schneep’s back: long short, pause, three long. _No._

“Ah. I see. I suppose it was too much to hope for that he wouldn’t hurt you.” Schneep pulled away and began patting Jameson down. He made note of the spots where the cloth of his clothes was ripped and wet, and the spots where Jameson flinched if he pressed too hard. “Is there anywhere specific I need to know about?”

 _Ankle,_ Jameson tapped out, fingers drumming on Schneep’s arm. _Can’t walk._

Schneep frowned. “I need more. Did he do something to it?”

_Yes. Cut it._

“Does it hurt a lot? And when I say ‘a lot,’ I mean extremely. Does it feel like fire?”

Jameson shuddered. _Yes._

“Fick alles!” Schneep swore. “He maybe sliced your Achilles tendon. That will take a long time to heal, and you will definitely not be able to walk.” He chewed his lip for a bit as he thought. “I can help you, but you will have to help me too. I will be your legs if you can be my eyes, okay?”

 _Ok,_ Jameson tapped.

“Alright. Get ready, I am going to stand up now, then I will try to get you up too.” Schneep climbed to his feet, keeping hold of Jameson’s hand. After a moment to breathe, he said, “Get ready,” and leaned down, grabbing Jameson’s arms and hauling upward. He heard the sound of shoes on the metal floor, and then Jameson’s muffled, pained yelp. “Left or right ankle?” Schneep hurried to ask. He heard a few whimpers, then felt a short-long-short tap pattern, the letter R. Schneep nodded in response, throwing Jameson’s left arm over his shoulder, bracing himself as Jameson leaned most of his weight against him.

“Okay…okay, we are upright, that is good,” Schneep breathed, speaking mostly to himself. “Now. Where is the door? I know there is one, I heard it shut.”

It was slow going, with Schneep having to accommodate Jameson leaning on him while still trying to pay attention to the messages he was tapping out. They quickly developed a system: L for turn left, R for turn right, S to stop, and F to move forward. It took a few minutes before Schneep reached out and felt the solid metal of the door. He glided his and across the surface. “I am assuming there is no doorknob?”

 _Is none,_ Jameson tapped. _What to do?_

“I…I am not sure.” He felt around some more, reaching the edges of the door. The seam between the metal door and metal walls wasn’t even large enough to squeeze his fingers into. “Maybe there is nothing I can…” Schneep stopped himself. The words he was saying…they reminded him of Anti. Anti, who mocked him for being unable to do anything, for being useless. And even if parts of himself agreed, he wasn’t about to prove that monster right. He gritted his teeth. “No, there is something. There is always something!” He banged against the door, throwing his whole weight into it. Once, twice, then—

Schneep cried out as he stumbled forward, the solid weight of the door suddenly gone. Jameson stumbled with him, crying out as he presumably put weight on his injured ankle to steady himself, and gripping Schneep tight to stop from falling. “I got you,” Schneep said, righting himself and then grabbing Jameson to help right him as well. After that was taken care of, he swept his arm around, expecting to hit the door again, but finding nothing. “What…what was that? What happened?”

Jameson began tapping wildly. Schneep tried to interpret it at first before realizing it wasn’t meant to be a message, just frantic confusion. “Okay, okay, stop that,” Schneep said. “Simple questions. Did the door open?”

_No._

Schneep frowned. “Did…did you do something? With your magic?”

A hesitation, then another _No._

“But…we are outside that room, right?”

 _Yes._ A pause. _Later?_ The word was marked as a question as Jameson traced the mark out.

Schneep shook his head. “Good idea. What matters is that we are free, and we need to find Jack and Chase. They came with me to find you, but we got separated. Can you do that tracking spell thing? The one you used to find them in this place before?”

Silence for a long time. And then, Schneep heard a slight humming sound, which gradually grew in volume until it leveled off. Then, the sound wandered away. _Yes,_ JJ tapped. _Follow._

“Okay. Hold on.” Schneep secured his supporting grip on JJ, then started down the hall. Hopefully Jack and Chase were close, he and JJ weren’t exactly the fastest people in the world in this condition.

* * *

Jack opened his eyes. The world had finally stopped shaking. But Chase had been right, everything had been switched around. Jack was now huddled against the wall, sitting near a turn in the hallway that hadn’t been there before. The red lightbulbs, previously dangling overhead, were now set in the ceiling. And he couldn’t see Chase or Schneep at all.

Jack sat up straight, catching sight of something gleaming nearby in the red light. It was the kitchen knife Schneep had decided to take. Jack hesitated, then grabbed it, holding it as far away from his body as possible without it being awkward. “Hello? Guys?!” He called.

“Jack!” Chase’s voice, followed by the sound of footsteps. Chase rounded the corner of the hall, skidding to a halt as he came face-to-face with Jack. “Oh thank god, you’re okay,” he said, slumping in relief. His hand, which was holding his gun at the ready, slowly lowered.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” Jack looked around the corner, then down the long end of the hall. “Where…where’s Schneep?”

Chase paled. “I don’t know. Maybe—maybe he was on one of those pieces that ended up falling to a lower level.”

“We lost him, too?!” Jack asked incredulously.

“No!” The word was more a shriek. Chase closed his eyes briefly. When he opened them, his voice was much calmer. “No, we’re going to find him again. And we’re gonna find JJ too.”

“The place fucking shifted around!”

“It can only change into so many shapes! I just—I just need to walk around for a bit so I can figure out which one we’re in now.” Chase sounded slightly desperate as he looked around, turning in circles. After he made the decision to come, he was hoping there was a way to salvage this, and that he wouldn’t turn out to be right about how impossible it was.

Jack took a deep breath, then nodded. “Okay. Okay, you lead the way.” After all, they’d worked up the courage to come here, might as well make the most of it.

Chase nodded, turning back around the corner. Jack adjusted his grip on the kitchen knife and followed.

And it was…quiet. Too quiet. Jack’s head darted back and forth between looking behind him and looking in front. There was just more endless hallway. Occasionally there would be a section that branched off, but Chase would glance down those only briefly before continuing forward. Jack didn’t like those branches. Anything could come out of them. He still remembered the sudden wave of static that had chased them out of here last time.

After who knows how long, Chase suddenly stopped in the middle of a T-intersection. Jack looked at him. “What’s wrong? You don’t know where to go?”

“Jack.” There was panic in Chase’s voice. “I can’t move.”

It was like he’d suddenly had a bucket of ice water dumped on him. “You what?!” Jack asked.

“I can’t move!” Indeed, Chase was standing perfectly still. He didn’t even turn his head to look at Jack, just moved his eyes. “I-I-I’m trying, I can’t walk or raise my hand or-or anything!”

Jack scrambled for an idea. “Maybe I can help?!” He ran to Chase’s side and pushed him. Chase staggered forward before catching his balance, but didn’t walk any further, just stopped in a new position.

“Jack, please!” There were tears gathering in Chase’s eyes that he couldn’t blink away. “Do something!”

The red lighting flickered. A laugh echoed down the hall to the left, brushing past the two of them. And then, there was a figure standing there. Nothing but a shadowy outline of static. It started to walk closer.

Jack yelped. “No no no, we have to run!” He grabbed Chase by the arm and started to run down the hall to the right, only for Chase to only follow for a few steps before suddenly becoming a statue again. Jack looked back over at him. “Chase?!”

“I-I can’t, I can’t, it won’t let me move my legs!” Chase’s voice rose in panic as the static figure grew closer, getting more detailed with every step it took, squares of its appearance filled in and becoming more solid. “Just go, just get out of here!”

“I’m not leaving you! I’m not leaving anyone!” Jack tried in vain to pull him once again, then tried to push, but Chase wouldn’t budge. He might as well have been a statue.

“Th̶̢̕a͢t̡’s the Jack we know and l̨̡͞o̶v͡e̴̸!” The static figure had filled in, and now Anti grinned at the two of them as he closed the distance, distortion breaking apart his body that wasn’t all there. “Always so ready to do a͡͠͝n̴̵͠yt̵h͏̷įng̸̶ for his precious f̷ri̷̵en̶͝ds͠. I see you got a replacement.” Anti tapped the area by his right eye. “I liked it better when there was no̧̕t̨hi̡͏͞ng̨͠͏ there.”

Jack froze up. The memory was there, as vivid as ever. The sound of Anti laughing, making some comment about how blind Jack had been to believe he would keep his promise. The desperate struggle to get away from the strings that seemed to come out of nowhere and wrap around him. The feeling of Anti’s hand against his head, holding his eyelid open, the approaching blade—

“Or if you w̴̧͞a͏̨n̡t͢͠ ͏̵i̢͡t̸̨ b͠a͡ck, I still h̶͡a͠v͟͞ȩ it.” Anti smiled as if this was a perfectly normal thing to offer.

“You’re a sick fuck!” Jack cried, snapping back to the present. “What did you do to Chase?! Let him go!”

“Or I could do ex͠͡a͝c͢tl̛͟y̷̴͢ ̢͢n̵̡o̧t͡ ͢t̵̡͝h̛͝a̛͝t̸.” Anti snapped his fingers, and Chase collapsed, falling to the floor like he’d suddenly lost all his bones. Or like he was a puppet whose strings had just been cut.

“No—!” Jack dropped to the floor next to Chase, turning him over onto his side. Chase’s eyes were still moving, wide with horror. He was practically trembling with effort as he strained to move, to no avail. Jack tried shaking him, but that did nothing.

“Oh come on, he’ll be f̧i̡n̵͞e̢̕.” Anti rolled his eyes. “I just exploited some of those holes left in ḩi͢s̡ ̶̛so̶u̧͞ļ̶͠ from my̨ st̶̛r͏͠i͟n̷̛g̢̕s to get him o͞u̶t̴͢ ̶͞o̷f ̶̧t̨͞ḩe̛͟͞ ͟͞way̵͠.” He chuckled. “Good to know they’re still room for strings to go ri̡g̴h̷̡t̵ b̢ac̶k ̧w͟her̶̷ȩ̕̕ ̸t̡͠h̕e̶͠y w̕er̴̕̕e͢.”

Holes in his what? Jack looked down at Chase. Impulsively, he closed his left eye, activating that weird sort of vision that made the world lose color, except for the balls of light he could see in people’s chests. He hadn’t found a use or explanation for that yet, but now…he was starting to have a feeling. Chase’s yellow light had some strange…grooves in it, that he couldn’t quite understand. And now, Jack could see that some of those had been filled in with green and blue static. Was…was this vision…was he seeing people’s souls?

“Y̸͡o̕͏u̢͝, on the other hand.” Anti stepped closer. Jack scrambled backwards until his back was pressing against the wall. “Yơ͏͝u͡’̷r͞e̡ not going to be fine. Do you miss the month we had together? I̶̢ ͏͢ḑ̕o.”

“Shut up!” Jack remembered the kitchen knife, holding it out in front of him defensively. Then he started to wonder…he closed his left eye again. In this new vision, Anti looked…strange. His body was transparent, filled with static the way you’d fill a balloon with water. And in the center of his chest, where most people had their light…there was a broken mess. Shards of red and blue, faintly glowing individually but together adding up to the usual amount of light people had, all held together by thin green strings. Strings that wove in and out of the light, wrapping it in a ball as they stitched the shards together. Or…maybe it was only one string.

“Is that t̢̧͟h̶e b̴͟e͞s̡t͞ you can do?” Anti looked down at Jack and tilted his head. “Try better n͏̵e͝x̢̡t̴͟ ̸ti͟m̧e̶͞. And get something better to defend yourself, too.” Anti’s hand glitched, and he was holding a knife as well, though with a much bigger, sharper blade. He smiled. “R̶͠e̕a̴̷̛dy̷̶ f̨o͠r ̸̸r͡ơu̡ņd̸͏̵ ̨͟t͢w̵o̵͟͞?”

Jack could feel his heart pounding a rhythm on his ribcage. He looked over to Chase, still limp on the floor, then back to Anti. His hand was shaking, but he still held the kitchen knife out. If he was going out, he’d go out with a fight this time.

The smile widened. “W̶̢̨ȩl̷c̡o͡m̴̕e ̢b̨͠ac̸k.” The blade streaked downwards—

—and reflected off a shield of blue light.

Anti actually stumbled back with the force of the deflected blow. “What?!”

“Hey motherfucker!”

Jack’s head darted to the side and caught sight of JJ and Schneep, the former leaning on the latter, stumbling down the left hall toward them. They both looked awful. Schneep’s side was stained red and he was paler than he’d ever been. JJ was covered in various cuts, including one on his cheek, and without his mask the stitches across his mouth were on full, painful display. But Schneep’s eyes were full of rage above their scars, and JJ’s hand was outstretched, wrapped in glowing blue circles.

Anti was genuinely surprised. “How did you get ou—”

“We wouldn’t tell you even if we knew!” Schneep yelled. “Now get away from our friends.”

Anti looked the two of them up and down, then looked over to Jack, still hidden behind that magic shield but now grinning triumphantly. A smile curled across his lips. “No, I do͏̷n͏͠’̨͞t̨ ̨͟thi͢n͏k̶̴ so̡. You look half-dead, what can you do to s̨t͟o̢p̸͏ ̢̢̛m̸̷͡e̵?̸̛”

“This.”

_BANG!_

Jack gaped as Anti’s head suddenly jerked to the side, a spray of red coming from the side and a look of total shock on his face. Slowly, he processed that neither he nor Schneep had said ‘This,’ and that neither of them had a gun to make the gunshot sound. He looked over. Chase’s hand was outstretched, his fingers wrapped around his handgun. He had lifted himself onto his elbows, and though he was pale and shaking and struggling to stay in place, his eyes were narrowed in determination.

Schneep had frozen in place, looking partly confused and partly on edge. JJ was so surprised that he ended up dropping the shield he’d cast around Jack.

“Y-yo-ou li-litt-ttle-le—” Something was wrong with Anti. Blood was leaking from the wound in his head. His form was glitching, coming apart and changing from static to solid and everything in between in the blink of an eye. But he wasn’t down. “Ho-how-w d-di-id yo-you-u—” His voice was breaking as well. It sounded like three people—or was it only two?—talking at once.

And when Jack closed his eye and looked at him through his soul vision, he saw the shards in Anti’s chest were pulling apart, the green string struggling to hold them together.

He jumped to his feet. He wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing, but he had the strangest feeling he needed to do it. Gripping the kitchen knife firmly, Jack ran towards Anti and plunged it into his chest.

Anti shrieked, trying to push Jack away, but his arms turned translucent and passed right through him. The knife also clattered to the ground as his chest did something similar. But the blade had left a sizable open wound.

Jack hesitated for only a slight moment before shoving his hand into the opening in Anti’s chest. The inside felt…not at all like how he expected. It was mostly an itchy, tingling feeling all around, like sparks biting into his hand but without the pain. Jack reached until his hand found the cluster of red and blue shards, held together by string. And though he instinctively knew he shouldn’t be able to do what he did next, it happened anyway. Jack grabbed the green string, and yankedit out of Anti’s chest.

A triple-layered, electric scream escaped from Anti the moment the string was pulled away. His body flashed wildly between red and blue, chunks flying away until, with a flash of green light, it burst.

Jack blinked the light out of his eyes, staring at a spot where, only a few seconds ago, a monster had been standing. He looked around. JJ and Chase were wearing identical expressions of complete incredulous astonishment. Schneep just looked confused. “What happened?” He asked. “Is-is he gone?”

Chase slowly stood up. He examined his own body, flexing and moving his arms and legs effortlessly. “I…I think Jack just killed Anti,” he whispered, as if the fact would become untrue if he said it louder.

“What?!” Schneep gasped.

“I…I think…” Jack looked down at the string in his hand. It wasn’t…fully there, more resembling light than anything. Yet he could feel it. It stung a bit. He watched as it wrapped around his arm and squeezed. Not too tight, just tight enough to know it was there. “I think he’s gone…”

Schneep stumbled, almost falling until he remembered he was still supporting JJ and had to right himself. “Mein Gott…” he whispered. “Is it ov—”

There was a pair of small thump sounds from further down the right hallway.

Everyone immediately tensed. Jack leaned over and picked up the knife again, and JJ reactivated his circular magic. Chase checked the safety on his gun. “I…I’m going to check that out…” he said slowly. “If anything happens, I’ll yell.” He edged down the hall, gun half-raised in preparation. The hall curved at the end, and he vanished around the corner.

After a minute of awkward silence, Jack asked, “Do you think we should go—”

“Oh my _fucking_ god!”

Jack jumped, JJ tensed, and Schneep called, “What was that?!”

“Dude!” Chase yelled. “You’re not gonna believe this!”

“You two stay here,” Jack said. “I’m gonna go check.” And he ran down the hall.

Once he turned the corner, he saw Chase standing in the doorway to a room. Chase turned around and looked at Jack, eyes alight. Alight with _joy._ “Jack…” he said, smiling. “I…I hoped but I never really thought— Jus-just look, man. ”

Jack pushed past him, staring into the room. It was tiny, barely bigger than a closet. There were two people inside, huddled in the corner. Jack took a moment to curl the green string—which was oddly floating away now, almost straining to get into the room—into a ball and shove it in his hoodie pocket. Then he looked back up at the two people. The room was lit by a single, surprisingly not red lightbulb, so he could tell what they looked like. One was wearing a blue shirt and a black cape. The other was wearing a red hoodie. They had their arms wrapped around each other, so tightly that they almost looked attached to each other. And then Jack saw their faces. He blinked. There was no mistaking them.

“Marvin? Jackie?”


	13. Nobody's Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group thinks they might have defeated, or at least delayed Anti, but something's off with their friends...

“We have to go to the hospital.”

Chase had been in the midst of passing out when he heard Schneep speak. His eyes flicked open. The walk back to the apartment had been a blur; he was still half-expecting Anti to appear around the next corner. When they arrived home and nothing happened, the adrenaline crash hit him hard. And he wasn’t the only one. JJ was asleep on the couch, face buried in a throw pillow. Schneep was still standing, but his shoulders slumped and his eyelids drooped. Jack had disappeared deeper into the apartment, taking Jackie and Marvin with him.

Jackie and Marvin. Chase still couldn’t believe it.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” he asked, sitting up straight in the armchair he’d collapsed in. “Even if… _he’s_ not going to show up, which he might, it’s still…they’re going to ask a lot of questions.”

“Not if we ask the right doctor for help. I know a few who would stay quiet.” Schneep rubbed his eyes.

Chase still hesitated. “But…they’re still going to ask. How are we going to explain…so much of this?” He gestured vaguely to the room. “Green strings everywhere, Jack’s eye, _your_ eyes…technically speaking I’m pretty sure we’re all missing person cases. Can’t you just—?”

“No, I cannot!” Schneep interrupted snappishly. Then he deflated. “I am sorry. But Jamie…his ankle needs serious treatment. Even if I could see to do surgery, I have no proper equipment here.”

“Proper equipment for what?” Jack walked back into the living room. In his hands was a glass mason jar, and inside the jar was the strange…green string of light that he’d pulled out of Anti. It was writhing like a living thing, banging against the glass.

Chase stood. “Hey, dude. How are you doing?”

Jack smiled tiredly. “Physically? I’m great, not a scratch on me. Mentally? Uh…”

“I feel that,” Chase muttered. He hesitated. “And, uh, how are…?” He didn’t need to say their names.

“They’re…the same as me,” Jack said slowly. He shook his head. “Anyway, what were you saying?”

“We need to go to the hospital,” Schneep jumped in. “Jamie needs attention.”

Jack’s eyes flicked over Schneep. “You do too, y’know. Or did you forget you were bleeding?”

Schneep flinched, as if just remembering. “I think the bleeding has slowed. Is not too bad.” He said this as if his entire left side wasn’t soaked in congealing blood.

Jack exhaled slowly. “Okay, yeah, I don’t think my first aid kit can take care of that. But what’re we going to tell them? They’re gonna wonder what the hell happened to us.”

“I know some doctors who can be discreet,” Schneep said. “And will not ask about what happened if I tell them not to. Besides, I think the danger of no treatment outweighs the danger of people finding out what has been going on for so long.”

“Well, alright, you’re the doctor, you know best,” Jack replied. “You and JJ can go—”

“Hey, I’m coming too!” Chase interrupted. “Wait, no, not that I don’t believe in you, doc, but you’ll need help.”

Schneep sighed. “I know, I know. Jack, do you want to come, too?”

Jack shook his head. “I don’t really need to go to the hospital. Besides, someone needs to stay here and look after…you know. Make sure they’re recovering alright.”

“Good idea.” Schneep leaned down and shook JJ’s shoulder gently. “Jamie. Wake up. We are going to the hospital.”

Jameson lifted his head, blinking. Jack stiffened, deliberately not looking at the stitches. “You three should probably hurry,” he said. “So you can get back before it gets dark outside, yknow? You’re already pushing it.”

“Got it.” Chase walked over and helped Schneep lift Jameson up, supporting him. “We’ll be as quick as possible. I’ll text you about anything.”

Normally Jack would’ve pointed out that Anti could hack electronics, but after the earlier events, he wasn’t sure Anti was going to be able to hack, or do anything, for a long time. If ever again. “Alright. I’ll be waiting.”

The apartment was quiet, seeming empty without the three of them. The minute they left, Jack collapsed on the couch. God, what a day. Things had been going so well for the last few weeks, and then one bad day just…it felt like day one again.

Jack struggled to sit back up. He could deal with this later, right now he had a couple things to take care of. Starting with the jar in his hands. Jack held it close to his face, examining the string inside. What even was this? When he’d activated that strange vision—which, he was starting to suspect, was like he was seeing others’ souls—it had been holding that broken light in Anti’s chest together. When he’d pulled it out, had he pulled apart Anti?

The string was insistent in banging against the glass. He could feel every slight impact making the jar jolt a bit. It kind of looked like it was trying to go somewhere. Jack stood up, walked into the kitchen, and set the jar on the counter. He watched as the string pushed the jar across the surface. He grabbed it again, looking around the kitchen before his eyes landed on a plastic box next to the sink. Inside was some boxed health food that he hadn’t opened in months, so he felt no sadness when taking out some of those boxes to clear a space to put the jar inside. After making sure it was secure, he left, going to check on the other two, the ones they’d just found again after…god, it was years at this point.

Years, thinking that Jackie and Marvin were dead. Then, with Anti’s appearance came the discovery that they weren’t. That something awful was happening to them. And after all that time, they’d found them. It felt unreal, like a dream.

Or maybe a nightmare.

Something was wrong.

Jack entered the spare bedroom. Schneep and Chase had been staying here, but Jack thought they’d be okay with him giving the bed to their newly recovered friends. Honestly, he didn’t expect them to stay there. For Chase’s first few nights after being recovered, he’d refused to even touch the bed. Schneep had been restless, doing all he could to avoid sleeping. But Jackie and Marvin…they hadn’t even changed position. When Jack left them, Jackie had been laying on the right side of the bed, Marvin had been on the right, and the two of them had been facing each other, arms tangled in the space between them. And they were in that exact same position now.

They’d probably been through a lot. Maybe they were dealing with it by shutting down completely. Jack remembered Marvin in particular tended to do that. Still, something was…off.

“Hey,” Jack said softly. There was a chair next to the bed, which he pulled over and sat in. “You two okay?”

No response. They didn’t even look at him.

“I’m…” Jack cleared his throat. “I’m just going to check your pulses, okay?” After a slight hesitation, Jack leaned over and checked, first grabbing Jackie’s wrist and pressing his fingers there, then doing the same with Marvin. Their pulses were steady. But once again, no reaction. Not even a change in breathing.

Jack wasn’t an expert in trauma, but he was ninety percent sure that, even if someone was totally traumatized, there would be _something._ Not just this…stillness. Emptiness. 

He stood up, leaning over Jackie and waving his hand in front of his eyes. Jackie’s eyes didn’t trace the movement at all. It was different than the blank stare Schneep had ever since the Nightmare. At least then, even if he didn’t follow the motion, you could tell there was something behind the eyes. Jack couldn’t see anything in Jackie’s eyes.

Jack sighed. He happened to glance down, and then he saw something that made him pause. Jackie was wearing a necklace. Or, more accurately, an amulet. A familiar looking one…Jack couldn’t help but reach forward and pick it up. The amulet was white and teardrop-shaped, a symbol made of green circles and lines on its surface. A crack broke across its surface. He dropped the amulet, looking over at Marvin. He had one too, this one on a frayed string, like someone had tried to cut it.

Jack would’ve recognized these anywhere. These amulets were identical to the ones Anti wore. After a moment, Jack stood up, mumbling something about being right back, and left.

Where did JJ put those magic books?

* * *

“We should’ve taken the bus,” Chase muttered.

“What? Upset about having to carry us all the way here?” Schneep chuckled. “You little bitch baby.”

Chase would’ve shoved him playfully if he wasn’t too busy supporting JJ, who was still half-asleep and too injured to walk properly. “You’re an asshole, you know that?”

“Thank you.”

“Look, I’m just saying, we’re lucky the apartment is close to the hospital. Otherwise, we might not have made it. I would’ve driven us, but I have no idea where the fuck my car’s gone.”

“How close are we, by the way?” Schneep asked, adjusting JJ’s arm where it was thrown over his shoulder.

“I can see the building. We just have to hurry.” Chase tried to speed up. “I’m gonna assume we’re not gonna just walk right in?”

“Bad idea, that would cause a scene we do not want,” Schneep agreed. “Go around back. I picked up my card before we left, it probably still works.”

By some miracle, they made it into the building without being seen. “Now what?” Chase whispered.

“We need to find a room to rest for a while,” Schneep replied. “Then I can find someone who’d help.”

“Okay, where are those rooms?”

“I…” Schneep trailed off. “I-I know where they are. I know how to get there, but…I cannot…” He took a deep breath, blinking his eyes furiously.

“Okay. Well.” Chase looked around. “Right now we’re approaching an intersection. There are some signs on the wall, one’s pointing toward reception, one’s—shit there’s someone coming!” Chase grabbed Schneep by the sleeve and started pulling him down the corridor.

But it was too late. “Hey, you! What are you—oh my god, Henrik?”

Schneep recognized the voice. “Ah, hello, Darla.”

“You know this lady?” Chase hissed.

“We work together in the O.R. Or, we did.”

“What the fuck’s going on?” The sight must’ve been odd, to say the very least, to an outsider like Darla. From her perspective, she was seeing one of her colleagues, one who’d been missing for months, all of a sudden reappearing with odd scars on his face and a bloodstain on his sweater, accompanied by two men who looked oddly like him, one of whom was very injured. Schneep breathed a silent sigh of relief that at least Chase and JJ had picked up their bandanna and mask, respectively, before they left. Seeing the stitches would’ve been a different level altogether.

“I know, I know, this is very unusual, but I-I need a favor. We need your help.” Schneep made a vague gesture toward JJ, on the verge of losing consciousness. “He needs treatment.”

Darla took a step back, looking the three of them over. “Yeah, guess you do too, Henrik. How much blood did you lose? What happened to you?”

“Is…a long, long story. We do not have time, and…it is better that you do not know, anyway,” Schneep admitted. “Just…please. I will owe you anything in turn, just do not ask.”

“Hey, I’m going to help, I took an oath, you know?” Darla snapped to attention. “But you need to give me something, okay? Some kind of explanation, even if it’s a crappy one.”

“Yes, of course,” Schneep said, unable to mask his relief.

“Now, c’mon.”

Darla led the way down another hall. As they followed, Chase called out, “Hey, you wouldn’t happen to, uh, be able to give us a ride back, would you?”

* * *

It was solidly nighttime by the time the three of them returned to the apartment. “Hey Jack, we’re back!” Chase called.

There was no answer.

“Hey, Jack?” Chase poked his head into the kitchen. “Oh good, you’re just here.” He laughed nervously. For a moment he’d assumed the worst. “You okay? Actually…you awake?”

Jack was slumped over the kitchen table. More precisely, he was slumped over an open book of magic, three others open around him. Chase shook his head, smiling fondly, then walked over and shook Jack’s shoulder.

Jack bolted upright, arms suddenly pinwheeling. When he saw it was just Chase, he visibly relaxed. “Oh. It’s just you.”

“Yeah, just me.” Chase glanced at the open pages of the books. “What, uh…what’re you doing?”

Jack rubbed his temple. “‘M trying to find these amulets…”

“Hm?”

“Y’know, Anti had those amulets. We’ve been looking for what they are for…I dunno, since he’s been around.”

“Yeah, I know.” Chase rubbed his arms against the sudden chill.

“Well…” Jack hit the open book. “Jackie and Marvin have the same ones. It’s weird…was wondering if that was somehow important…” He yawned.

“You can keep looking in the morning,” Chase suggested. “Right now? You look tired, dude.”

“Thanks.”

“You should go to bed. We all should, actually. And y’know, tomorrow you can ask Jays about this. He’s the one who’s been doing all the magic stuff, and since the doctor lady we talked to said it’ll be a few weeks before his ankle’s healed, he’s gonna have a lot of time on his hands for research and shit. Or you can…ask the two of them about it?”

“I don’ think they’d answer…” Jack murmured. He closed his eyes. “There’s something…different about them.”

Chase said nothing for a while. “Well…there’s something different about all of us. Just give them time.”

Jack nodded, but he still looked troubled.

“So, uh…” Chase pointed down the hall. “Bed?”

Jack chuckled. “Yeah, sure. Not sure where we’re all gonna sleep now. We have the couch and two beds. I guess we could double up?”

“Just don’t interfere with my sleeping bag, and I’m good.” Chase smiled. “Hey, let’s go ask those other two where they want to sleep.”

“Yeah.” Jack stood, stretched, then walked into the living room. Once there, his face broke into a smile. “Y’know, I think they’re good for now.”

Chase poked his head in. JJ and Schneep had fallen asleep, with JJ stretched out on the couch and Schneep curled up in the armchair. “Oh. Welp, guess that’ll work for tonight.”

“For tonight, yeah.”

The night passed quietly, everyone sleeping peacefully. Except for two. Long past the others had fallen asleep, Jackie and Marvin’s eyes remained open. Though if they were “awake” or not was up for debate.

* * *

Jack woke up last, unusual for him. The first thing he did after waking up was go into the guest bedroom to check on Jackie and Marvin. No change. This was really starting to freak Jack out. He was starting to have uncomfortable flashbacks to the time Schneep spent in the Nightmare, his body motionless. But this wasn’t the same thing. Jackie and Marvin didn’t have the static-filled eyes that would indicate they were stuck in the Nightmare. And yesterday, when they’d needed to get home from Anti’s lair, the two of them had managed to walk home, with Jack holding their hands and guiding them. So it wasn’t the same thing. But maybe something else had happened.

Jack could already hear the sound of Chase and Schneep in the kitchen. Mostly it was Schneep telling Chase what to do and Chase probably failing. “Hey, uh…” Jack cleared his throat. “You two want anything to eat? You’re probably hungry.”

He wasn’t even sure why he was trying to get an answer from them at this point.

“Hey, c’mon, you need food.” Jack walked over to the bed. “Please? Anything?” He paused, waiting for nothing. “You don’t even have to say anything, just…”

After a moment, Jack reached down and shook Marvin’s shoulder, still getting no response. On a whim, he grabbed Marvin by the arm and pulled. Suddenly, Marvin sat up, now sitting on the edge of the bed. His eyes were as blank as ever, but at least he’d moved. “There we go. Now, uh, just stand up? Go to the kitchen?” Jack grabbed Marvin’s hands and pulled again, managing to get Marvin into a standing position. “Uh…it’s just down the hall. You can go on.”

After a moment of silence, during which Marvin didn’t so much as twitch, Jack rounded the bed to the other side, repeating the process he’d done with Marvin, but with Jackie. Then he took a step back. This was…okay, this was weird. Freaky. And honestly, kind of creepy that they just…weren’t doing anything. Without prompting, at least. Jack bit his lip. “Okay, I guess…I can take you there?” He grabbed Marvin’s hand, then Jackie’s, and started walking. The minute he started moving, the two of them followed.

Jack ended up guiding the two of them into the kitchen, where Chase and Schneep were arguing about something or other. Jack cleared his throat. “Uh, hey guys?”

Chase glanced over, then looked away before suddenly whipping his head over. “Oh my god.” He covered his mouth with one hand, patting Schneep’s arm with the other. “It’s them, they’re—hey, how’re you guys doing? Need anything?” Chase lowered his hand and smiled.

There was a long silence. After a while, it was broken by Schneep. “Chase, are Jackie and Marvin actually here or are you playing me?”

“No, dude, they just came in with Jack,” Chase said insistently. He turned back to the two of them. “We’re making breakfast. You can have some. You don’t have to say anything, just…do you need anything?”

More silence. After a moment, Jack walked over to Chase and Schneep. “I told you, something’s wrong with them,” he said in a low voice. “They’re not…doing anything. Unless I make them do it first.” He paused. “They don’t have any stitches or strings, either, so…I-I don’t know what’s happening.”

Chase rubbed his wrists. “Well…maybe there’s some kind of lingering effect from whatever Anti did. We just need to get them used to being away from him, and it’ll probably fix itself. It’s…going to be fine. But for now…I mean…” Chase took a deep, shaky breath. “I-I mean, they have to eat. For, you know, health reasons. So maybe we can…I-I don’t know, just…” He swallowed. “Sort of…guide them to do that?”

“Do you guys hear that?” Schneep suddenly asked.

“Hear what?” Jack asked.

Schneep shushed him.

_Thump! Thump!_

“The hell?” Chase frowned. “It’s coming from…”

“I know where it’s coming from.” Jack circled around Chase and pointed at the plastic box on the counter. “ “It’s the string…or whatever, that came from Anti. I put it in here.” He reached inside and pulled out the jar with the string inside. The green glowing thread was banging rapidly against the glass, like it was too eager to get somewhere.

“That does not sound good,” Schneep muttered. “Put it back.”

Jack stared at the string for a moment, turning the jar over in his hands as he examined it. It hadn’t been trying this hard when he was in the kitchen last night. After a moment, he put it back in the box. “Keep an eye on that,” he said. “I’m…I’m going to go talk to JJ.”

When leaving the kitchen, he caught himself giving Jackie and Marvin a wide berth. He couldn’t really help it; they were really starting to creep him out.

JJ was still on the couch, where he’d fallen asleep last night, now idly scrolling through his phone. His injured ankle was now in a splint, his leg extended across the couch cushions. He’d taken off his mask, probably tired of it after falling asleep in it. When Jack entered the room, he looked up and smiled at him.

Jack sat down in the armchair. “Doesn’t that…hurt? Smiling, I mean.”

JJ put down his phone. _Not really. They don’t hurt at all anymore. I imagine it’s similar to what piercings are supposed to feel like._ Perhaps picking up on Jack’s discomfort, he continued, _So, Chase told me you were looking through the magic books last night?_

“Yeah, I, uh…did he tell you that Jackie and Marvin have amulets like… _he_ wore?”

JJ nodded.

Jack shifted in his seat. “Maybe it’s stupid, but…I thought there was a reason for that. The two of them are…being weird. It’s almost like how Chase was, when he was…you know, _his._ But it’s different…somehow. I thought maybe the amulets were the cause.” He smiled nervously. “Maybe it’s stupid. But we’ve always been looking for what they mean in the first place. Thought I’d give it a try.”

JJ had perked up throughout Jack’s talk. _Well, I believe I narrowed what the amulets were down to a few possibilities. Did you happen to get a close look at the markings on them?_

“Uh, yeah, it was like…” Jack rubbed his neck, thinking about how to describe the symbols. “It was like two circles, one on top, one on bottom. And they had lines pointing at each other.”

 _Are you sure?_ JJ asked.

“Yeah.” Jack blinked, watching in surprise as JJ suddenly covered his mouth with both hands, eyes widening. “What? What’s wrong?”

 _I remember what those ones are for._ JJ spelled out a word with signs. _T-R-A-N-S-F-E-R-E-N-C-E._

“‘Transference’? What’s that?”

 _A black soul magic ritual,_ JJ signed gravely. _It involves two participants, each wearing an amulet that links them, standing inside a protective circle. One recites the spellwords, and from there, parts of the two are…for lack of a better term, transferred to each other._

“That sounds…sketchy as fuck.” Chills were creeping across Jack’s arms. “What do you mean by ‘parts’?”

 _I don’t know the specifics,_ JJ explained. _But from what I understand, the spell actually rips pieces of your soul off, then does the same to your partner, and then takes the pieces of your partner’s soul and attaches them to you, and vice versa. It’s supposed to give you some of your partner’s abilities, then magnify them._

“I’m sorry, it does _what_ to your soul?!” Jack repeated incredulously.

 _Rip._ JJ repeated the sign, more violently, like tearing a piece of paper apart. _That’s why it’s black magic. You are destroying your soul and someone else’s. They will never be the same again._

Jack leaned back in the chair. “Why does Anti have two of the amulets for that? Why do _Marvin_ and _Jackie_ have the amulets for that?!”

 _Well, if I remember correctly,_ JJ signed slowly. _When they were found, supposedly dead, it was inside a magical circle?_

“Yeah—” Jack stopped, eyes widening. “Are you saying they were part of this ritual?” The words were barely audible.

 _Perhaps,_ JJ suggested, looking like he already regretted bringing it up. _Perhaps the reason Anti has two, and they each have one, is because he somehow…performed it with them._

Jack stared back in the direction of the kitchen. “Is it…possible that he somehow…I don’t know, took too much?”

JJ didn’t say anything. Then: _It’s possible._

Maybe…that would explain why they were so weird. Jack remembered back to that one December evening, when Schneep was confronted by Anti for the first time. He now recalled something he hadn’t before. Anti had asked Schneep what happened to Marvin and Jackie’s souls.

 _Or it’s possible…_ JJ suddenly signed, snapping back Jack’s attention. _That something worse happened. That we can’t understand._

Jack closed his eyes. “I don’t think I want to know what’s worse than that.”

It didn’t matter if he wanted to or not. He would find out anyway.


	14. Nevermore

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jackie and Marvin continue to act strange, putting the others on edge. And soon, it's revealed why.

A week passed before Jack finally got up the nerve to talk to JJ again. Well at least, talk to him about more serious matters. He didn’t know why he was so nervous about it. Maybe he’d just been busy. After all, things had been different ever since Marvin and Jackie…returned. The apartment felt crowded with six people inside its walls.

Jack woke up that morning, got ready, and immediately started down the hall. Or, not immediately. He had to be quiet, and thus careful. With the lack of sleeping areas in the apartment, Schneep had recently started crashing in Jack’s room. And Schneep didn’t fall asleep easily anymore, so Jack was careful not to disturb him when he was.

He followed the sound of a voice talking down the hall to the living room, peeking his head inside. Everyone else was in here. JJ was sitting in the armchair, reading over one of the magic books. Chase was on the couch, with Jackie on his left and Marvin on his right. He was scrolling through his phone and talking animatedly. “And this is you two when you first moved into your apartment—oh sorry, ‘flat’ as you called it. Ha…you kept correcting me. See, there are all the boxes?” As usual, neither Marvin nor Jackie responded much to hearing this. It was…still kind of creepy, the way they were just staring.

Jack cleared his throat, and Chase looked up at him. “Hey, bro. Good morning, how you doing?”

“Good, I guess.” Jack shrugged. “Um…I wanted to talk to JJ.”

Jameson looked up at that. Catching sight of Jack’s expression, his eyes widened.

“Oh, yeah, sure. Uh, sorry about this.” Chase put his phone in his hoodie pocket. “I just figured that…you know, maybe it was like Gravity Falls or something and I had to jog their memories.”

“Good idea. How’s it going?”

“Uh…” Chase pursed his lips. “Well, I mean…y’know what, maybe it would be better if I worked with one of them at a time. We can give you the room?”

“If you want, yeah.”

“Great.” Chase stood up. “C’mon, bro.” He grabbed Jackie by the hand, pulling him upright as well. And with only a little tugging, he guided him out of the room and into the kitchen.

Jack sat down on the couch, in the now-vacated spot. Jameson sat up straight and closed his book. _What is it?_ he asked.

“Well, uh…” Jack cleared his throat again. “So…you’re the magic man, right?”

 _Apart from him, yes._ JJ indicated Marvin, who was still sitting nearby, expression as blank as ever.

“Well…yeah, but he’s not…” Jack trailed off. He waved his hand in front of Marvin’s eyes, getting nothing. “You both have magic, though, right?”

 _Yes, but there is a difference,_ JJ explained. _From what you’ve said about him, Marvin was born with magic. I’m still unsure where mine came from, but I certainly didn’t have it my whole life._

Jack nodded. “I see.” He shifted in his seat. “So my point is…if something weird’s been going on, would you be able to…I don’t know, explain it?”

JJ leaned forward. _I could try. What “something weird”?_

“Okay. So.” Jack exhaled. “Something’s been going on with me for…a while now. Since we got Chase back, and that’s a couple months ago now, isn’t it?”

JJ said nothing, just gestured for him to continue.

“This is gonna sound completely insane, but…sometimes I see things,” Jack finally said. “That aren’t there, I mean. And that I’ve never seen before, and that nobody else sees.” There. It was out, after all this time.

JJ looked intrigued, and also slightly worried. _What kind of things?_

“Well, they’re…lights. Inside of people. I can only see them when I close my left eye, but they’re there. All different colors, too.” As if demonstrating, Jack closed his eye, looking downward, where he could now see a ball of green light glowing inside his chest. After a brief moment, he looked up with both eyes again. “Sometimes they’re different. Chase’s has these weird…I don’t know, groove things, like impressions. And yours has tiny circles around it, like sparks, if sparks were donut shaped.”

 _That’s…unusual._ JJ’s hands stilled as he thought through his next words. _You don’t have any idea what it could be?_

“I mean, kinda.” Jack shifted again. “I think…maybe it’s something to do with people’s souls?”

JJ seemed to sharpen. _You think you’re seeing souls? That’s impossible._

“It is?”

 _Completely!_ JJ emphasized. _I’ve never heard of anyone with magic, learned or born with, that can see souls with the naked eye._ He paused. _Wait. Didn’t you say that it was only in your right eye?_

“Yeah.” Jack nodded. “Why, what’s that got to do with anything?”

JJ leaned back again. He looked…completely awestruck. Disbelieving.

“What? What is it?” Jack asked insistently.

 _Jack…_ JJ signed slowly. _You do realize…that’s not_ your _eye, right?_

“What?!” Jack’s hand flew to his face, feeling his right eye under the lid. “How can it not be mine?!”

 _Because Anti took it, remember?_ JJ signed gently. _It’s not the one you’ve always had. I had to…replace it._

It took a moment for Jack to process the entire statement, his train of thought momentarily hijacked by memories of October before he pushed it back on track. “So…you’re saying it’s your freaky magic that’s the reason I can see shit like this now? How’d you do that?!”

 _I don’t know!_ JJ threw his hands in the air. _I just remember wanting you to see again!_

“Well, I can see, alright. I can see a whole bunch that’s apparently new to the whole magical world!” Jack ran his hands through his hair. “Jesus…and you have no idea what happened?”

JJ shook his head. _Maybe the magic took the command to “see” a bit farther than intended?_

“Maybe.” Jack leaned back into the couch cushions. “Holy shit, dude, how do you not know how your magic works? Doesn’t it, like, belong to you?”

JJ hesitated, then shrugged uncertainly. _I don’t believe it’s normal magic. All of us are diving into realms of the strange that are rarely explored, if at all._ He paused. _Like, for example. Did you know Henrik has magic, too?_

Jack stared blankly at JJ for a solid thirty seconds. “I’m sorry, _what?!_ ” That statement just—just didn’t compute. Schneep was the logical mind, the one who remained stubbornly skeptical for the longest time. How could _he_ have magic?

 _I don’t think he realizes,_ JJ said. _But…last week. The two of us were stuck in a room in Anti’s lair, the door locked. And then he stepped toward it and it just…it was like the world was sliced up and put back together in a different way. And suddenly we were on the other side._

“And you saw this?!” Jack said incredulously. “And he didn’t?! I mean, of course he didn’t _see_ it, but he didn’t realize? And you haven’t told him?!”

JJ ducked his head. _Well…it’s a fairly long story to tell via Morse code._

Ah. “Well, tell him anyway! No matter how long it takes, he should probably know about that.” Jack sighed. “How on earth did he get magic?”

 _I’m unsure,_ JJ admitted. _Maybe something similar happened to him as to what happened to me._

“But you don’t know what caused that, either.”

 _No, I don’t._ For a moment, the two of them sat in silence. And then JJ continued. _But back to your main point, why are you telling me about your ability now? Did you just think it was worth knowing?_

“I mean, yeah, but also…” Jack pursed his lips. He glanced to his side, where Marvin was sitting. The whole conversation hadn’t elicited as much as a glance from him. “We were talking…last week, about that transference spell. You said it had to do with souls?”

JJ nodded. _Why, do you think your ability could come in handy?_

“Yeah, in figuring out what happened,” Jack finished. “You know what I saw when I activated this soul vision while looking at… _him?_ I saw that green string, the one we now have in the kitchen. And it was holding a…a bunch of red and blue…light…shards. Like, stitching them together.” That sounded strange, but it was the most accurate way he could think to describe it. “I was wondering if…I-I don’t know. That would be helpful to know.”

 _It would,_ JJ said, intrigued. _Odd…if you see most souls as lights, I’m guessing that’s a most unusual spell. Perhaps the side effect of the transference?_

“Maybe.” Jack squirmed in his seat, suddenly uncomfortable. He stood up. “Well…good talk.”

JJ looked mildly surprised, but quickly hid it. _Yes, it was. If you figure anything else out about your vision, or see anything unusual, could you tell me?_

“I will,” Jack promised. “I’m…I’m gonna go to the bathroom.” And without another word, he left.

He wasn’t sure what made him leave. Just that…he didn’t like talking about that black magic transference spell. And he didn’t know why.

He’d considered using his soul vision to look at Jackie and Marvin, to see if something was wrong with them there. But…thinking about it filled him with an uneasy dread. Like he was afraid of what he would see.

* * *

“Okay, you have to remember this one,” Chase said, once more scrolling through pictures on his phone. “This was that time I asked you to come over and watch the girls. Remember them? Anyway, you tried to bake chocolate chip cookies without the recipe, and it all ran together into one big, flimsy, super-chocolatey pastry thing that took up the entire pan.” Chase laughed. “Moira really liked it, but I think Lily was just glad she helped.”

Jackie, sitting next to Chase at the kitchen table, didn’t move at all. He was looking at the phone, but that was only because Chase had forcibly moved his head to look at it. His expression might as well have been carved from stone, and there was absolutely no recognition on it.

“Ooookay.” Chase sighed. This was getting nowhere and he knew it. But who knew? Maybe on the seventy billionth try there would be something. “Let’s try something else, then. Um…”

Turned out, he didn’t have to wait that long.

He turned his attention to the phone’s photo gallery for a bit, looking for something good. When he looked up again, he visibly jumped. Jackie was staring right at him. He had most definitely not been doing that before, and he was still silent, but…he must have moved to look. “H-hey, dude.” Chase gave a lopsided smile. “What’s up?”

Jackie didn’t answer. But after a few seconds, he tilted his head to the side, like he was considering something.

At that moment, Jack walked past the kitchen doorway. “Hey, how’s it going?”

“Oh, uh, great, I—” Chase started to say something, but Jack walked right past without waiting for an answer. “Oh. Okay, you do that then.”

Something grabbed his wrist.

Chase yelped, instinctively trying to pull away but finding the grip too tight. He looked down to see Jackie’s hand wrapped around wrist, right on top of his wristband. Looking back up, he saw that Jackie’s expression hadn’t changed at all. He swallowed, suddenly on edge. “Hey, Jackie. So, uh, a lot of things have changed since you last saw me—before this last week, I mean. One being that I would prefer if you didn’t touch me. And especially—” He looked back down, starting to pry at Jackie’s fingers gripping his wrist. “— _especially_ not there.”

Jackie didn’t react as Chase pried away his fingers and pushed his hand away. He just kept…staring at Chase. There was…somethingin his eyes. Which would’ve been great, if that something wasn’t making shivers crawl along Chase’s skin. It felt like…like _him._ But that was impossible. This was Jackie, who was still his friend, even if so much had happened to the both of them.

Then something crashed in the living room, shattering the moment.

“What the…?” Chase stood up, crossing into the hall and leaving Jackie behind. He entered the living room. “Did something fall in—” And then he froze. And screamed.

The standing lamp had fallen over, causing the crash, but that wasn’t what concerned him. No, it was JJ. He was lying on the ground, on his back, and Marvin…Marvin was kneeling on his chest, hands wrapped around his throat and clearly squeezing. Jameson was thrashing as much as he was able, and clawing at the hands around his neck.

Chase leapt into action. “Marvin, no!” He shouted, lunging towards the pair and trying to pull Marvin’s arms away. But Marvin’s grip was furiously tight, a contrast to the still blank expression on his face. But…there was somethingin his eyes that Chase wasn’t sure he wanted to identify.

“What’s going—holy fuck!” Suddenly Jack was by Chase’s side, helping to pull Marvin away. Between their efforts, they finally managed to separate the two others. Jameson immediately scrambled away from Marvin, pressing his back against the nearest wall and breathing heavily.

Jack wrapped his arms around Marvin, holding him back. Though it seemed that, once Marvin was pulled away, he’d lost all interest in strangling Jameson. Jack looked at Chase. “What happened? I left for two seconds!”

Chase shook his head, baffled. “I don’t know. I heard a crash, and went to check it out, and they were like this!” He looked at Jameson. “Jays, what happened?”

Jameson didn’t respond for a while, getting his breathing under control and rubbing at the sore spots on his neck. After a while, he signed shakily, _He started staring at me the moment you left. And then he attacked me! No warning at all!_

“What?! That’s insane!” Jack looked at Marvin warily, as if searching for some sign that he was ready to attack at any minute. “Why would he do that?”

JJ only shook his head, baffled.

And in that brief moment of silence, there was a dull _thud_ from the kitchen.

“Oh, now what?” Chase groaned. He reached down and quickly pulled JJ to his feet before going back into the kitchen to check out the sound.

He walked back in to see Jackie now standing by the counter. Chase briefly glanced down to see a plastic box had fallen to the ground, as if pushed carelessly. Then he looked back up to see Jackie holding something. It took him a moment to recognize it as the glass mason jar that was containing that strange, almost alive, green string that Jack had pulled away from Anti. And then it took him a moment more to realize Jackie was trying to unscrew the lid.

“What are you doing?!” He lunged forward, closing the distance in a short time. Jackie put up no resistance as Chase yanked the jar out of his hands. The lid was looser, but not off. And the string inside was writhing furiously and slamming against the glass with enough force to jolt the jar, even as he was holding tight to it. 

JJ appeared in the kitchen doorway, leaning heavily on the doorframe. His ankle still wasn’t healed, it must’ve been difficult to even walk that far. _What’s happening?_

“I…I don’t know.” Chase found himself taking a few steps away from Jackie, who just stood there. “He was…trying to open the jar? You know, the one with this string inside.” He held the jar up.

JJ tilted his head. _The string wasn’t…acting like that before, was it?_

“I don’t think so.” Chase looked at Jackie. “What’s the matter with you? A week of nothing, and then you suddenly decide to… _interact_ with this, of all things? Are you and Marvin trying to freak us out?!”

Jack poked his head in the doorway. “You guys okay?”

Chase shook his head. “I guess? I-I don’t know. Jackie was trying to get to the string.” He suddenly scowled. “And by the way, what even is this thing? Where did it come from? Why is it alive, or some shit?”

Jack paused. “Well…it could be part of Anti’s soul, or something like that?” He didn’t sound too certain.

“Oh great, and we’re keeping it in a jam jar. Don’t you have a safe or something?”

Jack just shook his head.

 _You have a point,_ JJ signed. _This thing appears to be…more dangerous than we initially thought. Perhaps we could find some way to keep it safe._

“Or get rid of it altogether,” Chase suggested, glancing at Jackie.

 _Or that,_ JJ nodded.

Footsteps sounded down the hall, and suddenly Schneep appeared, hair disheveled and wearing the same outfit he’d worn the previous day. “What is all the yelling?” he asked, scowling. 

Jack winced. “Sorry, Hen. We just…some stuff happened.”

“What stuff?” Schneep demanded. “I was sleeping!”

“Uh…y-yeah, I…I know,” Jack shifted, folding his arms and curling inward guiltily. “Let’s…sit down and I’ll tell you.”

Schneep grumbled, but turned and headed towards the living room, gesturing for Jack to follow him, which he did. After the two of them left, Chase sighed. He looked at JJ and held up the jar, as if asking what to do with it.

JJ shrugged. _Seems like it needs to be kept somewhere more secure._

“Yeah, no doubt. Not a lot of secure places in this apartment, though.” 

They ended up placing the jar back inside the plastic box, but then put that box inside one of the cabinets under the counter. And they were so busy talking about whether or not that was safe enough, that they didn’t notice the way Jackie’s eyes tracked their movements, following the string to its new hiding place.

* * *

Later that night, Chase found he was having trouble sleeping. Again. It was a new development, ever since he…came back, those few months ago. He suspected it had something to do with not knowing it was…acceptable to fall asleep, without someone saying so. He’d been doing well over the last month or so, but for whatever reason insomnia decided to return this night.

He sighed, and got up. Maybe a walk around the apartment would calm him down. Though he’d have to be as silent as possible, wouldn’t want to wake up the others.

He made his way down the hall, towards the living room and kitchen. And then he saw something move in the darkness.

Chase immediately froze. He debated turning back and grabbing his gun—in fact, he was leaning toward that—but what was there to hurt him in the house? It was probably just one of the others. He took a deep breath, and walked forward, turning into the kitchen.

Flipping the lights on, he saw mostly nothing was changed. Except Marvin was crouched on the floor, opening one of the bottom cabinets.

“Marv—!” Chase hissed. “What’re you doing?!”

Marvin didn’t so much as turn his head, just reached forward into the cabinet, and pulled out a plastic box.

“Hey!” Chase darted forward as soon as he recognized the box. He got there just in time to slam the lid down a moment after Marvin started to open it. “You can’t do that!”

And then Marvin did look at him. And Chase shivered, for some reason.

“Um…I’m just going to…” He managed to pull the box away, grabbing it and backing up. Marvin stayed where he was. While not taking his eyes off him, Chase pulled one of the dining room chairs over to the counter, climbed on top of it awkwardly, opened a topmost cabinet, shoved the plastic box inside, and slammed the cabinet door closed. “Okay…” He let out a deep breath, and climbed back down. “You should be asleep, you know that? C’mon, let’s go.”

With a little effort, Chase managed to guide Marvin back down the hall to the bedroom where he and Jackie were supposed to sleep—though Chase would be lying if he said he’d seen them ever close their eyes—and lay him down on the bed. And with a sigh, he left the room, closing the door behind him. That whole thing was…odd. Odd in a way that made you look over your shoulder. What really struck him was that he slept in the same room as the two of them—and he hadn’t heard Marvin get up and leave, even though he was lying there awake.

But he still wasn’t tired. So he walked back down the hall, trying to give the pacing another try.

“What was all that about?”

Chase yelped, jumping sideways until he hit the wall. Then when he saw who it was, standing in the entrance to the living room, he sighed. “Doc, what the hell? You can’t just sneak up on someone like that!”

“Sorry,” Schneep said.

“What’re you doing up?”

“What are _you_ doing up?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” Chase explained. “Now, you?”

“The same,” Schneep said. “I was reading. Sitting in here.”

“Well, why didn’t you turn on the light?”

Schneep blinked. “Did you seriously just ask a man who cannot see to turn on a light? Would that make a difference?”

Chase flinched. “I’m sorry, Schneep. I…I hadn’t thought of that.”

“Well, now you have. Besides, Jamie is still asleep in here.” Schneep gestured behind him into the living room. “On the sofa. I would not want to wake him up anyway.” He paused. “So what was all that noise in the kitchen?”

Chase sighed. “I…I don’t know what was going on. Marvin was in there. Messing with the cabinets.”

Schneep furrowed his brows. “Why? He and Marvin have been unresponsive for seven, eight days. Now, all of a sudden, this?”

“Yeah…it-it might have something to do with that string,” Chase confided. “Maybe they’re trying to get to it.”

“Why?”

“I-I don’t know.”

Schneep growled. “Well, they have been strange since this started anyway. I cannot feel them.”

Chase stared at him for a moment. “You can’t what?”

“That…that feeling you get when someone is nearby. You understand? I do not get that around them.”

“You mean, like, the hairs standing up on the back of your neck?”

“No, no.” Schneep shook his head. “That is the watching feeling. Do you not understand? The feeling you have when someone enters the room, and you just know someone is there now. And how close they are!”

“Yeah, I…I don’t get that, I think,” Chase said, shrugging. “It’s not that hard to sneak up on me.”

“Hmm.” Schneep looked confused at that. “Maybe it is different person by person. Or they say your other senses enhance when you lose one, maybe it is related to that.”

“Maybe.”

The two of them were silent for a moment. After a while, Schneep said, “You really should go to sleep.”

“I will,” Chase said automatically. “I mean—but, uh, so should you.”

“Perhaps.”

“Jesus, dude, you’re a doctor and you don’t know the benefits of sleep?”

“Ha…” Schneep’s expression fell a bit. “Well…that never stopped me when I _was_ one.”

Oh. Chase stepped forward, voice softening. “Hey, I didn’t mean—”

“Go to sleep, Chase,” Schneep said, turning away.

Chase backed away. “Oh…okay. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Schneep nodded. Chase turned back, hand trailing over the walls. He still found sleep a while coming.

* * *

Everyone was awake at the same time that morning, all gathered in the kitchen. Jack was messing about in the cabinets, getting out dishes. JJ was sitting at the table, half-reading one of the magic books, holding it open with one hand. Schneep sat next to him, listening to whatever message JJ was tapping on the tabletop with his other hand. Chase was leaning against the wall on the fringes. Even Jackie and Marvin were there, sitting in the remaining chairs at the table, as blank as ever.

“Hey, JJ?” Jack said. “You know, I would’ve been fine bringing you breakfast again.”

JJ finished his statement to Schneep before answering Jack. _I’m sick to death of being stuck on your sofa with my idiotic injured ankle._

“Well, then the next three weeks at least are gonna suck for you,” Chase muttered.

JJ glared at him, then returned to tapping Morse code on the table.

Jack raised an eyebrow at Chase, shutting the cupboard he was messing with. “That’s a little snappy, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, well…” Chase’s eyes darted around the kitchen. They landed on Marvin and Jackie, hovering on them. He shifted uncomfortably, then suddenly pushed away from the wall. “I…I don’t think I’m hungry.” And with that, he left the room.

“Wh…? Hey, Chase!” Jack ran after him.

Chase stopped halfway down the hall, letting Jack catch up with him. “What?”

Jack skidded to a halt. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s—”

“Don’t pull that shit on me, Chase Brody, I’ve known you longer than anyone else in this apartment,” Jack cut in. “I know when something’s up. I…I want to help, so can you let me?” He tried not to sound too desperate, but his question turned into a plea anyway.

Chase looked away. “It…it sounds crazy.”

“Our lives are crazy. Go on, what’s up?”

After a moment of hesitation, Chase sighed. “Okay. Don’t say I didn’t warn you, but…they’re freaking me out.”

Jack blinked. “Who? Jackie and Marvin? They are acting kind of creepy, I’ll admit, and this whole business yesterday was weird—”

“No, it—it’s different.” Unconsciously, Chase rubbed his wrist, reaching under the band and itching. “It’s like…fuck, it sounds crazy.”

“I don’t care how it sounds, if it’s bothering you, then it matters.”

Chase sighed. “They…they’re kind of reminding me of… _him._ ”

Back in the kitchen, JJ finished tapping out his Morse code message. Schneep leaned back in his chair, confused. “I do not understand,” he said. “I would know if I had magic of some kind, yes?”

 _Maybe,_ JJ tapped. _Didn’t you notice it odd when we got out of the room?_

“Well, yes, but I assumed that was you,” Schneep admitted. “Or more strangeness of that place.”

 _No, it wasn’t._ JJ insisted. _It was you, I could tell._

“Well, what kind of magic would that be, anyway?” Schneep countered. “To get out of locked places? Is kind of…ah, I do not know. Stupid, I suppose. Yours is more useful.”

 _For keeping everyone else safe, yes,_ JJ admitted. _But I can’t do simple tasks, or use it to defend myself._

“Those are strange rules, I—” Schneep stopped. In the silence, he heard the squeak of a chair against the kitchen tile. “Was that you?”

JJ, previously busy with dividing his attention between the conversation with Schneep and the magic book, looked up at the sound. In the few minutes since he’d last glanced over at them, Marvin and Jackie had both stood up. Jackie was dragging his chair over to the counter, while Marvin was staring at JJ and Schneep with a…it was almost a glare. JJ jumped, slamming his book shut. He tried to stand up, only for pain to shoot upward from his ankle. He crumpled back down with a muffled cry.

“What?! What is it?!” Schneep half-stood up, bracing himself.

This message had to be quick. _J, M,_ he tapped. _Weird._

Luckily, Schneep caught on quick. “What are they doing? Should I get the others?”

That would probably be a good idea. _Call,_ JJ tapped, trying to stand up again, leaning his weight on the table.

Schneep raised his voice. “Jack?! Chase?! Something is happening?!”

It only took a few seconds for Jack and Chase to reappear in the kitchen, stopping in the doorway. Jackie had managed to drag the chair over to the counter, and was climbing on top. The moment Jack and Chase reappeared, Marvin switched his attention to them, watching.

“What are they doing?!” Jack yelled. He ran forward, only for Marvin’s hand to shoot out and grab him by the back of the hoodie as he passed. Jack cried out in surprise.

“I moved the box with the jar to that cabinet!” Chase, said, pointing. “Last night!”

“What?! Why?” Jack asked. He was trying to pull his hoodie away, but Marvin’s grip was unusually strong.

“Marvin was trying to get into it!” Chase explained.

“Well, we should not let them get to it!” Schneep stood up fully, though he looked unsure about what to do.

JJ reached a hand toward Jackie. A circle of blue runes briefly flickered around his fingers before fading. Jameson looked down at his hand in surprise.

“On it!” Chase dashed forward, giving Marvin a wide birth, and was by Jackie in a couple seconds. Jackie had opened the cupboard, and was pulling out the box. “Hey!” Chase tried to climb up onto the chair, but suddenly Jackie looked down at him, and kicked him away, sending him flying backwards.

“Stop it, both of you!” Jack didn’t think either Marvin or Jackie would listen, but he had to try. He managed to pry Marvin’s hand away from his hoodie, but as soon as he’d done that, Marvin suddenly reached forward and grabbed him, holding both arms behind his back. “Let go of me!” He glared at Marvin, and out of the corner of his vision, he got a glimpse of something…glowing. His soul vision. He’d been hesitant to use it before, but now? Well, what was there left to lose? He wasn’t sure what the two of them wanted with that string of Anti’s, but he just knew it wouldn’t end well. So he closed his left eye, letting the soul vision take over.

And in the center of Marvin’s chest, where Jack would usually see the glowing ball of light that he usually saw someone’s soul as…there was a loose pile of blue and red shards. He looked over at Jackie, climbing down from the chair with the box in his arms, and saw the exact same thing. He…he’d seen something like this before…

Chase climbed to his feet and lunged towards Jackie, grabbing for the box. But Jackie wasn’t as keen to let go of items as he was earlier, and a strange tug-of-war started. “Schneep? Jays? A little help?!” Chase called.

JJ tried to step forward, but once again winced under the pain of his injured ankle. Realizing he couldn’t get to Jackie, he looked over at Marvin, still holding Jack. And suddenly threw himself at him. Marvin stumbled.

“I do not know where they are!” Schneep wailed. “I told you, I cannot tell!”

“Can you tell where I am?” Chase said. “He’s right next to me! Help me get this away from him!”

Schneep scowled a bit, as if angry with himself for not thinking about that. And so he ran to Chase’s side. After a moment, he figured out where the box was and grabbed it, adding his strength to Chase’s side.

For a moment, everyone was locked in a struggle. Marvin tried to shrug JJ away while still keeping hold of a wriggling Jack. Jackie kept resisting Chase and Schneep’s attempts to pull the box away. For a moment, just a moment, they all seemed evenly matched.

And then the lid of the box came loose, and opened wide enough for the jar inside to roll out onto the floor with a heavy _thunk!_

Chase immediately dropped the struggle for the box, reaching down for the jar. But the string inside seemed to know he was coming. It pushed against the side of the jar, rolling it away from Chase’s grasping hand until it bumped against Jackie’s shoe. Jackie looked down, scooped up the jar, and raised it high above his head.

“ _No!_ ” Jack shouted.

But it was too late. Jackie threw the jar down on the ground, and it shattered instantly.

The string inside wriggled and stretched, free of its confinement, and it started to grow in size. It shuddered and writhed, splitting in branches like a hydra growing heads. Tendrils reached out, wrapping around Jackie’s legs, and crawling over the ground until they were able to wrap around Marvin’s as well. The green light coming from the string intensified from a slight glow into a blinding glare, and anyone who could see it was forced to shut their eyes.

They opened them again to the sound of laughter. Marvin and Jackie had disappeared, and standing in the middle of the kitchen, static creeping over his skin, was Anti.

“No!” Chase grabbed Schneep’s arm, stepping backwards. “What—where—?”

“S̷u̢͠rpr̕i͏̸͝s̢ed to see me?” Anti waved his fingers. “You shouldn’t be.”

JJ slumped backwards against the kitchen table. He looked around the kitchen, then glared at Anti. _Where are Jackie and Marvin? What did you do to them?!_

Anti looked over at Jack and grinned. “You’ve figured it out hav̛en'̛t͏ y̴̴o͞͠u̶?”

Jack didn’t want to say he had. But…he closed his eye again, looking at Anti’s “soul.” Just as he’d seen last time he looked at it, he saw red and blue shards, stitched together with that interwoven green string. But now he realized he’d seen the shards elsewhere. “He hasn’t done anything to them,” Jack said, voice almost too quiet to hear. “He _is_ them.”

“No no no no no, that’s impossible. That’s impossible!” Chase laughed hysterically. “Jackie and Marv are—they’re not evil!”

“Everyone has a little bit of ḑa̷̡r̢k͟͠n̛es͢͠s͏ inside.” Anti waved his hand in front of his face, dispelling the mask of shadows and revealing his face for the first time since any of them had known him. He tilted his head to his left, and his features shifted a bit, looking more like Marvin. He tilted it to his right, and they shifted again to resemble Jackie. “What happens when that’s a̷̕l͏l͝ ͏t̡h̴a͏͡t's̵̢ ̡l͠͠ef͞t̡̢͟?͏”

JJ started to shake his head, but then his eyes glanced downward, and he froze. _The amulets,_ he signed shakily. _The transference did go wrong…just not in the way we imagined…_

“There we go, you have a p̨o̸̴i̶n͞t͢ to existing, a̧͡fte̸ŗ͡ all̶̡!” Anti clapped his hands. “Yes, it went wrong. Neither of them expected that one of them would k̦̙̜̼̞i̱̞̳̬̬͉̞̝ļ͇͞l̶̨̛͖ the other! Seems everything go̕͟ǫ̸̛d̸ got lost in translation!”

“You’re lying!” Chase shrieked. A few tears slipped down his face. “They were best friends! They wouldn’t hurt each other, much l-less—!” He choked, unable to even finish the sentence.

“Hmm, w͏er̸͝e ͏t͠h̡e͟y̨͏?” Anti laughed. “Well, it doesn’t matter. T̡h̷e̷y'r̶̕e̷ go̷ne now. As you saw, there’s nơt̛͏h̡̢i̢n͞͝g̶ left except some empty shells—a̴͞n̶d ̵m̸̵e̡.”

Anti raised a hand. The room filled with the sound of static. Jameson managed to pull Jack close, a blue shield of runes flickering in front of the two of them. Chase backed up, paling.

And then, the air seemed to rip apart.

In between one second and the next, there was suddenly a kitchen knife driven into Anti’s chest. He screamed, staggering backwards. Another second, and then Schneep was in front of him, pulling the knife back out. He was panting, like he’d just sprinted across the room. He blinked, and for a moment, it almost looked like his eyes were black. And then it was gone. “You shut your mouth,” he growled.

Anti seemed to recover from the stab quickly, cracking a grin at Schneep. “That’s a new t̨ŗi̵͠c͠k̨,” he remarked. “Are you going to kil̢͝l̴ ̡̨m̢e͟͢? You, the least u͟sef̢u̶l part of the group?”

“Yes,” Schneep said simply. And he lunged again.

Anti was prepared this time. With a burst of white noise, he disappeared, reappearing behind Jack and Jameson. “No, I don’t t̸h̡i̸n͏k͏ ͝s̶̶o.” Anti’s hand darted forward, and Jameson barely managed to swivel the circular shield around to the other side in time to block him. 

There was another rip, and then Schneep was behind Anti, driving the knife forward again, managing to hit his shoulder. Anti shrieked, and spun around before Schneep could pull the blade out again. “Fine. Have it y̴̕͝o̸͢uŗ͠ ͢w͡ay.” With a smile, he reached back and pulled the knife out himself, slashing it forward.

Schneep yelped, leaning backwards, and suddenly he wasn’t there anymore. Anti growled, and in a fit of static, he disappeared too.

The air was still filled with the sound of static. Occasionally the world jumped and fizzled, like it wasn’t sure of its place. Chase looked around. “Wh…what the fuck is happening?” He squeaked. “Did Henrik just—what?”

Jack glanced at JJ. “That would be the magic you told me about yesterday, right?”

JJ nodded.

“Schneep has magic?!” Chase asked, gaping.

“Apparently! Don’t ask how, ‘cause none of us know the answer, not even him!”

The world jumped again, and suddenly the cabinets all flew open in unison. Another jump, and all the dishes shattered into pieces. Another, and cracks shot through sections of the kitchen tile. “And what about this?!” Chase asked.

“I don’t know!” Jack shouted.

 _Maybe their magics colliding?_ JJ guessed.

The ceiling overhead groaned, and suddenly bits of plaster fell.

“Whatever it is, it’s destroying your apartment!” Chase yelled. “We have to get out of here!”

“But—Henrik!” Jack protested.

Chase hesitated. “We can go look for him, but we have to be quick.”

Jack nodded.

Chase ran across the kitchen floor, joining up with Jack and JJ. Jameson adjusted the shield to cover them from above, as more chunks of plaster started to fall, and the walls started to peel. “C’mon,” he said, throwing one of Jameson’s arms over him to support him. “We gotta go!”

They didn’t have to go far. The living room was crumbling, same as the kitchen. The lamp was broken in two, the upholstered furniture bleeding cotton. Schneep and Anti were jumping in and out of existence, flickering between places in the room. At first, it seemed an evenly matched sort of chase, but after a while it became clear who was winning. Schneep had no weapon, and he didn’t understand his own powers, making his disoriented. It wasn’t long before Schneep was cornered—literally stuck huddling against the room’s corner, Anti looming over him.

JJ threw out his hand, and a circle of blue appeared above Schneep just in time to deflect the blow from Anti’s knife.

Anti scowled, turning his attention to the group who’d just entered. A smile twisted his face. “Someone’s h̵u̵͢ŗ͠ţ͟in̛g͞! Someone’s s͟lo̵̴͞w̧.”

“Leave him alone,” Jack hissed.

“Or…?” Anti pressed his knife deeper into Jameson’s shield. Below him, Schneep was trembling, panting, eyes wide yet seeing nothing. “You can’t do a̴ņy͠ţ͝h͡įn͢g̴̢ about it! The f͞a͟͡ke̶ magician can only defend, my pu͢p͏̸p̡e̷͠ţ has no weapons, and you can only s͟͠e͡e̢̕ what’s wrong and n̛͞oth̷i̷͞ng̢̕ else!” He laughed, and pressed down harder, sparks flying from the shield. It flickered. “In the end, you’re a̵̷̢̹̻̲l̷̵͕͟ļ̯̗̲̘̭͓̳͠l u̸s̷̢e̴l̡es͞͏s͢͝! So why not let me take out the one who does the lȩ̵ąs̨t̷͝ for you?!”

Schneep suddenly screamed and clutched at his head. The world shuddered, and slashed apart, slices of darkness appearing in between broken fragments. When it all settled, Schneep was gone.

Even Anti looked surprised at this, taking a few steps back. But he recovered, shaking his head and smiling at the other three. “Oh well. I can still take care of y͡͏̨o̷͟u̴̷”

Jack, Jameson, and Chase all glanced at each other. And in unison, they sprinted for the door.

The room behind them started to fall apart, wires flying out of the walls, pieces of furniture bursting, the ceiling collapsing right behind their heels. The three of them barely managed to get out the door, Chase and Jack pulling Jameson behind them. Anti screamed. Cracks full of static crawled along the wall, following them. “Keep going!” Chase yelled.

They ran.

* * *

They didn’t stop until they were at least a block away from the apartment building, and then they all collapsed to the ground in unison, breathing hard.

“What—was— _that?!_ ” Jack yelled.

Jameson shrugged vaguely.

“That was Anti,” Chase said, staring at nothing. He blinked, and a tear escaped. “A-and Anti was…was…” He buried his face in his hands. 

Jack nodded. He felt…nothing. Just a sort of numbness. It didn’t hurt, though maybe it would later. But for now, it was just…empty. “They…they’re…”

“They can’t be.” Chase looked up. “They can’t be gone.”

Jameson looked up. _Chase…maybe—_

“No!” Chase suddenly shrieked. “They aren’t gone! An—he was lying! He just took them away again! They’re not him! They can’t be! They can’t! They…they…” He slumped, and let the tears flow. “They can’t have… _done_ that to me. To us,” he sobbed.

Jack didn’t say anything. There was nothing he could say. But he reached over and gently picked up Chase’s hand. Chase squeezed it tight as he continued to cry.

They must’ve stayed there for ten minutes at least, sitting on the sidewalk as morning traffic drove by. Briefly, Jack wondered what onlookers would think, but he didn’t care. They needed this.

After a while, they all calmed, staring blankly out at the city. “Where are we supposed to go now?” Jack whispered. 

_Where did Henrik go?_ JJ asked. _We have to find him._

Jack nodded. “But…we can’t just stay on the street. He could find us.”

Chase wiped his eyes. “I…I think I know a place.” He stood up.

Jack stood as well, pulling JJ up and letting him lean on him. “Really? Where?”

“It’s…some way away. We’ll have to walk a while,” Chase admitted. “I just hope she’ll let us stay.”

“Oh.” Jack nodded. “I see.”

“C’mon, let’s hurry,” Chase said. “The sooner we get somewhere safe, the sooner we can figure out what to do next.”

And in silence, they started walking.


	15. New Places

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shaken by the reveal of the truth behind Anti, Jack, JJ, and Chase flee to find somewhere else to stay. Meanwhile, Schneep goes through a series of strange events.

It was a lovely morning to be waiting on a doorstep so you could ask the house’s occupants if you and your friends could stay there because the place where you’d previously been staying had been found by the demon who’d been hunting you.

This thought passed through Chase’s head just before he rang the doorbell for a second time. He couldn’t help but laugh, the sound almost hysterical.

 _Are you okay, Chase?_ JJ asked. He was leaning heavily on Jack, his ankle still injured.

Chase shook his head. “Yeah, I’m fine. Guess I’m a little…frazzled.” And who wouldn’t be? He’d just found out the monster chasing them was actually their dead friends fused together, then one of his friends turned out to have magic and proceeded to disappear, and now they’d been run out of Jack’s apartment, where they’d been staying, and he’d turned to the last relatively-safe place he knew. Assuming that she’d let them stay, of course.

The door swung open. There was a woman standing in the doorway, blonde hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. She was wearing the uniform of the diner she worked at, so she must’ve just gotten off a shift. For a moment, she just stared at the three men on her doorstep. And then she gasped out, “Chase?!”

Chase coughed awkwardly. “Hi, Stace. It…it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“You’re damn right!” Stacy’s tone wasn’t angry, just bewildered. “Wh—what are you doing here?! What are _they_ doing here?!”

“Long story,” Chase sighed. “Can…can we come inside first?”

Stacy silently stood aside, letting the group enter the house.

The suburban house was relatively small, but it was very neat and tidy. There was a couch pressed against the window, a television against the opposite wall, an armchair, a coffee table, and two tiny bean bags in the corner, one yellow, one pink. Jack guided JJ over to the couch, where they both immediately collapsed.

“What the hell is going on?!” Stacy asked. “I don’t see you in person for months, your friends say you’ve disappeared but won’t tell me what’s going on, then next thing I know you’re back, and whenever you call me _you_ won’t tell me what’s going on or why you can’t see our kids!”

“I told you, it’s dangerous,” Chase said tiredly.

“What—okay, I-I understand that, but if that’s the case, why are you here _now?_ ” Stacy spluttered. “If you’re in danger, why’re you bringing it here? The place where there’s a five-year-old and an eight-year old?!”

“I know, it’s stupid, I’m sorry,” Chase mumbled.

Stacy paused. Chase normally would’ve been more defensive. There was something wrong here. She looked around at the group. “Where’s your doctor friend?” she asked.

Chase flinched. “You, um, noticed he wasn’t here?”

“Well, yeah, the other two are here, and you guys almost always travel in a group,” Stacy said. “Is…is something wrong? Where is he?”

“He’s…we don’t know where he is,” Jack piped up. “It’s a long story.”

“You keep saying that,” Stacy sighed.

“Well it is,” Jack said. “Look, I’m sorry, Stacy, but our last safe place has just been…found out. We don’t know where else to go.”

“…huh.” Stacy ran her hand through her hair, and loosened her ponytail.

“If you kick us out, we’ll find somewhere else,” Chase said.

“I’m not gonna kick you out,” Stacy scowled. “Not now that you’re here. I just—”

“Mom?”

Everyone in the room paused. Standing in the doorway connecting the living room to the rest of the house were two young girls. The taller, toffee blonde one was holding the hand of the shorter, sandy blonde one. Stacy smiled at them. “Hey sweeties.”

The shorter one was holding a plush doll in one hand. Her eyes widened. “Daddy? Is that you?”

Chase waved. “Hi, Lily. Yes, It’s me. Hello, Moira. It’s good to see you.”

“What’re you doing here?” Moira asked, squeezing her sister’s hand.

“It’s complicated, honey,” Chase said. “Me and my friends are gonna be staying here for a while.”

Lily gasped, suddenly looking delighted. “Yea!” She broke free from Moira’s hand, running over to Chase. She threw her arms around him. Chase froze, stiffening. His eyes darted around the room, landing on every adult. Lily was totally unaware of her father’s distress.

Moira, however, wasn’t. “Lils, come on, let’s let them talk for a bit.”

“Aw, okay.” Lily let go and retreated back to the hall, and she and Moira disappeared back into the house.

Chase went and sat down in the armchair, covering his mouth and shaking slightly. Jack stood up and took another seat closer to Chase, though he didn’t move to touch him.

Stacy stared at all of this in silence. “This…this is all so confusing,” she said. “Chase, what…?”

“I-I don’t want to talk about it,” Chase said, the sound muffled by his hand. “Just…can we have some time?”

Stacy nodded slowly. “Alright. You can explain to me later, if you want to. I’ll…I’ll be around.” And she turned and left.”

After a long moment of silence, Chase took a deep breath. He straightened. “Okay. I think we need to decide where to go from here. For starters…” He looked at Jack. “How’d you just instantly come to the conclusion that Anti was Jackie and Marvin? Just…h-how?”

“Um…well…” Jack shifted on his seat. “Me and JJ were talking about this yesterday. I, uh, apparently have magic vision now.”

“What?! Since when?!”

“Since JJ replaced my eye.” Jack tapped the skin under his right eye, the one that was brighter blue than the other. “We’re still not sure why, but it…it means I can sea people’s souls.”

“You can what?!” Chase could only gape at him.

“Yeah. They look like glowing balls of light in people’s chests.”

Chase folded his arms unconsciously, over his chest. “Can…you see mine?”

“Yeah, it’s yellow. And it has these…” Jack shook his head. “I-I don’t know, these groove things. I think it’s because of what An—anyway.” He coughed. “How I knew they were him, was that…I looked at Anti’s soul, and it was a bunch of red and blue…shard-like things. Held together by that green string. You remember that? I-I saw it, and I reached forward, and I pulled it out…and then Anti disappeared and we found Marvin and Jackie. Later, I-I looked at them with this soul vision, and they…didn’t have…normal soul lights. They both had red and blue shards.”

 _There was evidence that Marvin and Jackie preformed a transference spell before they died._ JJ said. _It’s black magic. Very black magic. It takes apart people’s souls and switches the pieces around, then enhances them. It will give the two participants special abilities, but at a cost. It must’ve gone wrong, and somehow Anti is the result._

Chase laughed. “Okay. Cool. That’s fine. What…what do we do about that? Ho-how do we get them back?”

Jameson froze. _Chase…_ he signed slowly. _I don’t think there’s a_ way _to get—_

“Shut up!” Chase shot to his feet. “Of course there’s a way! There has to be a way! They—they’re probably stuck in there! We have to get them back!”

 _Chase._ Jameson leaned forward, trying to be gentle. _If their souls were torn apart—_

“There has to be a way!” Chase repeated insistently. “I mean, if magic is real, then we can fix this! I-I know maybe _you’ve_ never heard of one, fancy magic man, but you’ve never heard of something like Anti, either! So there’s got to be a way!” He looked at Jack. “Right?”

“Wh—I mean, yeah, of course,” Jack nodded. “That makes sense. Besides, we’ll never know if we don’t try.”

Jameson shank back, looking a little ashamed. _I’m sorry._ The signs were small. _I suppose you two are right. I was just trying…_ He stopped. _You’re right. We need to try._

“Yeah, but first, we need to find Schneep,” Jack said. “What…what happened to him?”

“I dunno, I guess it’s his magic. That he suddenly has. For some reason,” Chase mumbled. He sat back down, shrinking into the cushions of the arm chair.

“Yeah, what _is_ that kind of magic anyway? Where did it come from?” Jack wondered.

Jameson shrugged. _I’m unsure for that latter question, but for the former, it appears Henrik can teleport, somehow. Or maybe it’s that he somehow affects the world around him to make regular walking easier for him. Like wormholes._

A hint of a smile drifted across Chase’s face. “Yeah, explain it to him like it’s wormholes, he’d like that more.” The smile faded away. “So, he freaked out and teleported away. Where did he go? How would we find him? He didn’t have his phone on him, so we can’t even take the risk of Anti finding us to call him.”

“I guess we’ll have to find him the old-fashioned way,” Jack figured. “By looking around and walking for him.”

“That could take forever!” Chase gasped.

 _Yes, but it’s the best we can do,_ JJ said. He winced. _Or rather, it’s the best_ you _can do. I’m afraid that I’m still in no condition to walk around. I do appreciate that you two helped me here, but I would just slow down your search._

“It’s okay, JJ,” Jack reassured him. “It’s best if you just stay here and heal up.”

“Should we start looking for him now?” Chase wondered. “I mean, the sooner the better, right? But we did just get here. Would it be weird to leave right away?”

“I don’t think it would be,” Jack shrugged. “We can just tell Stacy where we’re going, and when we’re gonna be back.”

 _Yes, I think it would be better to start earlier,_ JJ added. _Who knows where Henrik could be now? He could have gone a long way, and be getting even further._

“No time to waste, then,” Chase said, nodding. He stood up again. “C’mon, let’s get going.”

* * *

With no further ado, Chase and Jack went back out onto the streets of the city. The morning was clear, with a few wispy clouds high in the sky. It was an average morning, with people strolling out along the streets, going about their various business. Chase and Jack would occasionally stop one of them, asking if they’d seen a man who looked similar to the two of them. None of them had.

They stopped for a break around noon, the spring sun high in the sky. They sat down on the curb of the sidewalk. “Should we get something to eat?” Jack asked. “We’ve been out for a while. And we didn’t exactly have a good breakfast.”

Chase shrugged. “I dunno. Whatever you want.”

“Well, I don’t want to go somewhere just for me,” Jack said. “So are you hungry?”

Chase just shrugged again.

Jack stopped talking, looking at Chase and frowning. Something was up, he could tell. Chase was being pretty…passive. “Are you okay, dude?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Chase balled his fists, scrunching up his pants.

“You don’t look fine,” Jack pointed out.

“Well, I am.”

“No, you’re not,” Jack insisted. “C’mon, you can tell me what’s up.”

“You wouldn’t care about what’s up!” Chase suddenly burst out. He gasped, hand flying to cover his mouth.

Jack was left speechless. “…what?””

Chase suddenly stood up, quickly walking away, down the sidewalk. Jack didn’t hesitate to follow, rushing to catch up.

“Chase?! Chase!” Jack called after him. Chase didn’t turn around, pushing past people on the sidewalk as he rushed away. “Chase! Slow down!” Jack picked up the pace until he was able to reach out and grab Chase by the shoulder. With a yelp, Chase spun around, pushing away Jack’s hand. “You can’t just _say_ something like that! Of course I’d care!”

For a moment, Chase looked like he wanted to keep running. Then he slumped. “I know, I know you would, I-I don’t know why I said that. I just…you have all your shit going on, it feels stupid to bring you into mine, too.”

“No, it’s not. It’s exactly the opposite of stupid. Bring me into your shit. Tell me what’s going on!”

“No, it’s stupid, it really is.” Chase folded his arms, looking down at the ground.

“Well, I’m not gonna drop it until you tell me what’s going on,” Jack said. “So might as well get it over with.”

Chase looked around. There weren’t a lot of people around, and definitely none in earshot. He sighed. “It’s just…you have a cool power, dude. JJ has magic. Schneep has magic, apparently. And then I’m just…here.” He blinked furiously, eyes watering. “I don’t _do_ anything. All that I’ve done is get kidnapped, possessed, get un-possessed, and now I can’t handle anything! I can’t even fucking let my own daughter give me a hug without freezing up! And you guys are doing great! You’ve all had to deal with shit, and you’re not like this! So why am I—just—worthles—” He choked up. And he realized tears were leaking from his eyes.

Jack took this all in, staying silent. His expression was hard to read. And then he stepped closer to Chase, taking care not to touch him. “Chase Brody, never say that you’re worthless.”

“Okay,” Chase said automatically.

“No, I mean it. You think we would’ve gotten this far without you? No! You remember when you _shot_ Anti, despite him still having a hold on you? That was the most badass shit I’ve ever seen! And that was you! You’re amazing!”

“But you guys—”

“No no no, stop it,” Jack said firmly. “Stop comparing yourself to the rest of us, we’re not all the same. You’re right, we’ve all had to deal with shit, and it’s all been different shit. You notice how Henrik avoids going to sleep? Or how I couldn’t leave the apartment for two whole months and outside still kinda freaks me out? None of us are doing _great.”_ Jack shook his head. “And even if it was the same shit, we still would’ve reacted differently. Because we’re different people, and comparing yourself to others only hurts. If there’s any comparison you should be doing, it’s to yourself. And Chase, you are doing so much better. Think of how you were doing a few months ago. You’ve been improving. And yeah, maybe you don’t have magic, but you’re still strong. And don’t you forget it.”

Chase’s tears were still flowing, but for a different reason. “Thanks, Jack.” His voice cracked. “I guess I needed that.”

Jack smiled. “If you ever need it again, just tell me.”

“I-I’ll keep that in mind.” Chase wiped his face on his sleeve. He took a deep breath. “Alright. So, we keep going, then?”

“We keep going.” Jack nodded. “We’re bound to find Schneep eventually.”

Yet, the sun lowered in the sky, the blue faded to pink and then purple, the hours passed, and they still hadn’t found him. They returned back to Stacy’s house, agreeing to look again tomorrow.

* * *

He didn’t know where he was.

He didn’t know how he got there.

He’d been back in the apartment. Anti had appeared. Anti had taunted them, telling them that he was the other two. And somehow, he knew this wasn’t a lie. Marvin and Jackie had been acting so odd once they’d returned, and he couldn’t…he couldn’t _feel_ where they were, like he could with other people. Now, he wondered if that ability to _feel_ people had anything to do with…what else he could do.

He didn’t know how to describe what happened next. He wanted a weapon, so he reached over and grabbed one. He wanted to attack, to be at the front of the action, and all of a sudden Anti was right in front of him. And so he fought. He fought for the two who’d gone and the three who remained. But it was too much. Things were spiraling out of control. He’d take one step, and suddenly the room reoriented around him, and he was somewhere else entirely. It was spinning around him, he was one place and then another. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t steady himself. His head was swimming. It hurt. He screamed, and then he was somewhere else.

It was a strange place, he knew that much. The texture of the walls were unfamiliar, the furniture in unexpected places, the sound of a construction crew nearby completely different. He couldn’t hear or _feel_ anyone nearby. Maybe it was a living room. In a house he’d never been in.

His vision was different. Well, it was still effectively gone, but that static that he’d been seeing ever since coming out of the Nightmare had disappeared. It was instead replaced with plain blackness. Alright, that was a slight improvement, but why?

He tripped across a wrinkle in the rug, falling to the floor with a cry. He didn’t stand up again. There was probably other things to trip over.

After what felt like an hour, he heard the muffled sound of footsteps. Someone was coming, he could _feel_ it. That got him to climb to his feet. He headed for the nearest wall, feeling along the perimeter of the room. There had to be somewhere to hide, or somewhere to get out, _somewhere to get out—_

And then the wall disappeared. The sound of construction was replace by tweeting birds and a cool breeze. He stumbled as the floor under his feet became uneven, turning into soft dirt.

“What the fuck…?” He muttered.

“Hey!” Someone shouted. He cried out, turning towards the sound. Someone was coming closer. “This is private property!”

“I-I am sorry, I-I do not know how—how I got—” he stammered.

“Speak proper _English,_ please,” the someone said dismissively. “Stay here while I call the police.”

He yelped, backing up. He felt the prickly branches of a bush dig into his back. No no no, this place wasn’t good either, get out—

And as he was backing up, he tripped over something else, falling over what felt like a wooden chair and landing hard on a carpeted floor. Suddenly, there were a lot of voices. And he could _feel_ a lot of people nearby. They _felt_ different.

“What the hell?!” “Jesus, that scared me.” “Um, Ms. Mae? I think—” “Unauthorized teleportation—” “—supposed to have a smoke effect?” “What’s up with his eyes?” “—don’t recognize him.” “Sir, are you alright?”

Too many people. He tried to stand up, and somehow rammed his head into something. He yelled, withdrawing.

“There’s a bookshelf there, sir,” said one of the voices. “Are you alright? Can you…wait, can you see us?”

He squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head. Not here, somewhere else, not here, somewhere—

And the world shifted again.

And again.

And again.

He wasn’t sure how much time was passing, but it had to be a significant amount. He’d stay in each place for as long as thirty minutes, or as few as thirty seconds. Never anywhere he recognized by touch. Sometimes he’d get his bearings enough to try and find the room’s exit, or walk down the sidewalk, or figure out exactly where the hell he was. But the world always shifted again, even if he didn’t want it to.

Sometimes there were people. He tried not to stay there too long. They’d think he was crazy. Sometimes it was a room, sometimes it was outside. Once there was water lapping around his ankles.

Where was he?

Where were the others? He had to find them. He had to find out if they’d gotten away from Anti, or if he needed to rescue them. Not that he was sure he could, with the world constantly changing. Sure, he’d managed to stab Anti once or twice, but that might’ve been beginner’s luck. Didn’t mean he wouldn’t try, though.

He was outside again, on a sidewalk. The air had cooled down significantly, and he could _feel_ less people around. The sound of the cars passing by were less frequent. Time had passed.

No, he was in a noisy building, people shouting, dishes clattering.

No, he was in a wide-open space, instruments playing discordantly.

No, somewhere boiling hot—

No, somewhere with the ground kicking up sand—

No, somewhere quiet—

Somewhere loud—

Somewhere soft—

Sweet-smelling—

Grassy—

Cold—

His heart was about to pound out of his chest. His mind was swimming, a lightheaded feeling. There were swirls of colors swimming before his eyes. Patterns of phosphenes.

Ticking—

Crashing—

Dizzy—

Heavy—

Too much, too much, too much—

Something broke.

_He saw a hospital room, a single bed surrounded by medical equipment. There was a man in a snap-back cap, sitting on the floor like he’d been knocked down, and another man in a ragged white coat, staring down at him. His expression was a combination of shock and anger. “I do not you would forget so easily,” the man in the white coat said. “But maybe I am mistaken. If what I have seen you doing is what I think it is, then maybe your mind is missing entirely.”  
“Wha—no, I—oh my god, you’re alive.” The man in the cap stood up, looking a bit dazed as he looked the other up and down. “We all thought the worst—I mean, we never gave up hope—well, ░▒░▒░▒ got close, I think, but maybe that’s just the pessimist in him. And there was that fucked up postcard back in March…but you’re back now. You’re back.” He smiled, a small expression filled with relief._

_~~He was in the middle of a dark field, city lights in the distance. They were close enough to make out buildings but too far to walk to. A man in a black cape and purple and white mask was walking. His hand was held up high above him, blue crystallized lights dancing around his fingers, illuminating the area. He spun around, looking for something. He said something under his breath, and the blue light flared, shooting out.  
Something laughed. “You talk too much,” said a voice, seeming to come from everywhere. The man spun around, blue light twirling away. Shuffling movement in the darkness, and then there was something, something gray and smiling and with blackened sharp nails, tackling the man to the ground. Something red splashed.~~ _

_ he was standing behind someone, a young man in a button-up shirt, who was holding a ceramic mug in two hands. the man was in the doorway of a living room, watching two other men talk. They appeared to be arguing.  
“i don’t own a green t-shirt, ░▒░▒░!” this man had his hair pulled back, waves falling down his back. “you know i don’t like them! you can go look in my closet and hamper if you want,i don’t have anything like that.”  
“well, who was it, then?” this one had a snap-back cap and a dirty jacket. “what, are you saying that someone was pretending to be you—”  
the man in the doorway suddenly paled. he dropped the mug he was holding, and it shattered upon the floor with a loud crash. the other two turned to look at him. “░▒░▒░▒░? are you alright?” _

_Ur jnf yvfgravat gb na nynez evatvat guebhtu gur nve. Gur juvgr-jnyyrq unyyjnl jnf yvg hc bayl ol erq rzretrapl yvtugf naq n fgenatr terra tybj. Gurer jrer gjb svtherf va gur pragre bs gur unyy, bar ylvat ba uvf onpx, gur bgure xarryvat arkg gb uvz. Gur bar xarryvat jnf cerffvat qbja ba gur bgureâ€™f fgbznpu, jurer n qnex fgnva jnf fcernqvat npebff gur oyhr fuveg. â€œFuvg, unat ba, whfg unat ba,â€ &#157; gur bar xarryvat fnvq. â€œV xabj fbzrbar jub pna uryc, jr whfg arrq gb svaq uvz.â€&#157;  
Gur bar ylvat qbja tebnarq, naq bcrarq uvf rlrf. Fbzrguvat jnf tybjvat juvgr. â€œFghcvq nynezâ€¦â€&#157; Ur ernpurq hc, unaq gerzoyvat. Fgenaqf bs juvgr yvtug pheyrq nebhaq uvf nez, gura fubg njnl, jenccvat nebhaq n obk ba gur prvyvat. Gur zrgny pheyrq nf vs vg jnf pynl orvat gjvfgrq. Gur nynez fgbccrq, naq fbzr bs gur erq rzretrapl ohyof ohefg, envavat qbja tynff naq yrnivat gur fgenatr terra tybj nf gur bayl fbhepr bs yvtug._

_Sv hzd z uzhg ullw ivhgzfizmg, nlhgob vnkgb. uoflivhxvmg ortsgh org fk gsv yfrowrmt, z xlmgizhg gl gsv wfhp lfghrwv gsv drmwldh. Z nzm dzh hrggrmt rm z yllgs rm z xlimvi, dizkkvw rm z xlfkov ozbvih lu xolgsrmt vmwrmt rm z tivvm qzxpvg drgs ufi zilfmw rgh sllw. gsviv dviv yzmwztvh zilfmw srh mvxp zmw z kzgxs levi srh vbv. sv dzh hgzirmt zg hlnvgsrmt zxilhh uiln srn gszg ollpvw orpv z nzm rm z ivw sllwrv, yfg gsviv dzh hlnvgsrmt…dilmt. Rgh uzxv dzhm’g erhryov.  
“Blf pmld, dv ivzoob hslfow hgzb lfg lu gsrh, ĵŀ½ýªś,” hzrw gsv gsrmt rm gsv ivw sllw.  
“Bvzs, r urtfivw gszg lfg dsvm gsv wlxgli gsrmt prxpvw nv lfg lu rgh xrgb,” gsv nzm nfggvivw, iloormt srh erhryov vbv. “Gdrxv.”  
“Yfg.” Gsv gsrmt uozhsvw z hnrov. gsv gvvgs ollpvw…dilmt. “R dlm’g orv, r ivzoob dzmg gl hvv rg tvg rgh wfv. Xzoo rg pzinz, ru blf dzmg.”_

_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_

“Stop!”

He gasped, and suddenly everything was still. Very still, in fact. Almost unusually still. He couldn’t hear anything nearby. He couldn’t smell anything nearby. He couldn’t feel anything other than the ground beneath his feet. But he could _feel_ something…someone? Were they the source of the voice that shouted “stop”?

“Gods, was not expecting that. What’re you doing? How’d you get here?” The voice sounded familiar…but also different.

“I—I—” He couldn’t answer either of those questions. “I do not know. I-I am sorry if I upset you.”

A short burst of laughter. “You didn’t upset me—well I mean, I am kind of busy right now, but I can take a break to figure out what the actual fuck you were doing.”

“Doing? What—where am I?” He realized he was shaking a bit. Nerves, maybe. Or exhaustion. From whatever that had been.

“Hmm. You can’t see, can you? Otherwise you’d be having a stronger reaction than that.” Footsteps approached him. “Here, let me just—”

He felt hands on his head, pressing fingers into his temples. And then he felt something else, some kind of tingly, static sensation. He yelped. And then suddenly, he saw himself. Not from the perspective you would expect, but like he was looking through someone else’s eyes at himself. He could see the scars under his eyes for the first time. Then the perspective changed, like someone was looking to the side. And he saw…lights. Tiny green orbs of light, extending off in all directions, for forever, against a black sky. They were reflected across the horizon, but he wasn’t sure if that was because the floor he was standing on was reflective, or if the floor was transparent, showing a void all around. He gasped, and the hands were withdrawn. “Where am I?” He repeated, in a hushed voice.

“…how do I explain this?” the voice muttered. “Alright. Do you play video games? You likely have a few friends who do.”

“Um…yes, I have friends. I play a few games, I suppose.”

“You know how a level of a game has a map? The map makes up the environment, and it’s made of all the various assets the game has.”

“Yes.”

“You know how, in some games, if you do just the right thing, you can glitch outside of a map and into the empty space beyond? Where you can see the whole map from a new perspective.”

“I…yes.”

“Well. Welcome to the empty space around the map, Henrik.”

Schneep gasped. “How do you know my name?!”

“I mean, I guessed you were one of them.” The voice sounded casual. “The accent gave it away.”

Schneep shook his head, backing away from the voice. “Is—is this real? Am I having a hallucination?”

“Why, do you have those?”

“Someti—that is none of your business!” Schneep snapped. “How do I get back to where I was?”

“Good question, normally you wouldn’t be able to.”

“ _What?!_ ”

“But the fact that you were glitching outside and looking at other ones is a good sign that you’ll be able to. Though, judging by your reaction and recent memories, this is a new thing for you.”

“You looked inside my—?!” This was too much. Schneep fell to the ground, collapsing to his knees. He covered his mouth and tried not to hyperventilate.

“Oh, I shouldn’t have done that, should I?” The voice asked. “I just thought it would be helpful if I understood where you were coming from.”

“How is this happening?” Schneep whispered weakly. “Jameson, he told me I had magic, b-but I did not think—! It would be like—! Wh-why do I even have this? What happened to make it?”

“Another good question.” The voice lowered, like he was also sitting on the floor. “Well, it sounds like this isn’t something you had your whole life. Were you exposed to any kind of magic for an extended period of time? Say, a few months.”

Schneep immediately started nodding. “I-I got stuck. In this place called…the Ni-Nightmare.” He shuddered. “It was for months.”

“Well, shit. You have to get your soul ripped out to go there.” The voice fell silent for a while. “So, I’m no expert, but I can give you my best guess. Your soul probably got used to being outside your body, and while it was in the Nightmare, it began to adapt to the new environment. Once it was returned to your body, it settled back in, but the properties it picked up started to seep into your body as well. It would probably lay dormant for a while until you needed it to start acting weird, probably triggered by stress or something. And now, I’m guessing everything’s hit the fan for you.”

Schneep nodded. “It was like…everything around me was changing. I could not control it.”

“Of course you can control it.” He could practically hear the voice rolling his eyes. And moderation, of course, so you don’t end up glitching too far. I mean, eventually you would’ve drifted off, bouncing between other worlds. You’re lucky I stopped by.”

Schneep paused. “Who _are_ you?”

Laughter. Chillingly familiar, yet somehow…more relaxed. “If I told you my name, you’d probably recognize it. But I probably shouldn’t, in case the me in your world isn’t as nice. Never mind that, though.” A shuffling sound, like the voice was standing up. Then the voice grabbed Schneep’s arm and pulled him up. “I think it’s best if you don’t stay here. Just in case there are more effects.”

Schneep shook his head. Everything was moving fast. “H…how would I get out of here?”

“Well, you got in, didn’t you? You can get out, if your powers brought you here. You just need to control them.”

“How?” Schneep asked in a small voice.

“You start by _not_ controlling them.” Schneep’s expression must’ve shown, because the voice chuckled. “Abilities like this are part of you, if they’re anything like mind. As much as your arm is part of you. Do you make an effort to ‘control’ your arm? No, you just think about what it’s supposed to do, and it does it. Glitching to other places is just an easier way of walking. Think about where you want to go, and go there.”

“What? It cannot be that easy.”

“It is. You might need to practice, though. But for now, just relax. If you freak out, it’s likely that your powers are gonna freak out too.”

“I think I figured that out,” Schneep grumbled.

“Yeah, that’s probably how you ended up here, huh?” The voice sounded like he was smiling. “Just take a deep breath, and think about using your powers to get back where you came from.”

Schneep hesitated. “What if it goes wrong? Are…are you going to give more advice?”

“If you don’t go back to your world, yeah. But once you’re there, I can’t follow you. I can access the In-Between, and my own world, but nothing else without concentrated help. It’s one of the few rules I follow.” The voice shifted, now sounding a bit irritated. “Now can you hurry? I said I was busy, and unless I want some black magic kitty causing havoc, I gotta get back to that.”

“Okay, okay.” Schneep considered asking about that, then decided it was a better idea not to. He took a deep breath. Just think about it, huh? Alright. He wanted to go home. He imagined a doorway opening in front of him, and on the other side was where he wanted to go. He took a step forward—

And ran his shins into a coffee table.

He cried out, jumping backwards. Okay. Alright. This was better. He wasn’t in that weird…place anymore. He reached forward, bending down to feel the surface of the coffee table. It was wood, felt fairly big, and there was an indent right in the middle.

Schneep froze. That wasn’t just an indent. He recognized the feel of the knick in the wood. He ran his fingers over it a few more times, awakening a long ago memory. One time, Marvin had visited his apartment, but neglected to tell him he would be practicing throwing knives. He dropped one right on the living room coffee table. Schneep had ranted his ear off that night about how the blade had left a knick in his table.

How many times had he ran his hand over that dent in the wood? Especially after he’d thought his friend had died…he wasn’t about to forget the feeling of it, no matter how long it had been.

But he had to make sure. Schneep stood up, feeling around the edges of the room. Yes, there was the glass wall to the balcony. There were the houseplants in the corners, now dried up and dead from neglect. There was his second coat hanging off the hook near the door. He’d ended up home.

Schneep sat down hard on the sofa. So. Maybe that voice’s advice wasn’t too bad.

It had been…a long, long day. An absolutely insane day, in fact. He needed to process all this. He lay down across the cushions, staring into nothing. His vision was back to blackness. Which he didn’t mind, in comparison to the static. If that was part of his new abilities, he’d take them all.

Okay. Start with processing the simpler-to-understand stuff. Anti was back. Doing alright so far. Anti was actually Marvin and Jackie—nope, that one needed more attention.

Some part of Schneep knew they’d always been dead. He’d seen their bodies. He’d _examined_ their bodies. You don’t come back from that. And even if they somehow magically recovered for a bit, he knew they weren’t the same. He’d figured out by now that he could _feel_ people, which must’ve also been part of his powers. But he could never _feel_ them. They weren’t people anymore. They were ghosts. Remnants.

Schneep wiped away at the tears suddenly trickling down his face.

And now, all that was left of them was Anti. Anti, the worst parts of each of them, now hell-bent on tormenting them. Maybe if they got rid of Anti, Marvin and Jackie could finally have some peace. In whatever came next.

He reached vaguely to the side. He needed a weapon, something suitable for defeating Anti. And surprisingly, his fingers wrapped around something. He pulled it back, feeling the item over with both hands. A pair of…scissors? Odd, but he supposed they were just a pair of knives attached together. He tried again, reaching to the side, this time thinking about a knife. And this time, he grabbed a kitchen knife. Huh. Apparently, he could summon things now, too. Though…was he actually just reaching through some kind of wormhole to grab something from somewhere else…?

Schneep shook his head. He’d figure it out later. For now…he was tired. And again, he needed to process this. He set the scissors and the knife down on the nearby table.

They needed a plan. They needed to be together. And Schneep needed more time to adjust to these new abilities. 

So that would be what he’d do next. He’d figure out how to use these powers to their best, find their strengths, weaknesses, and limitations. Then, when they came for Anti, he wouldn’t know what hit him.

With a sigh, Schneep closed his eyes. Yes, he’d be prepared for that day. It was coming soon.


	16. No More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a long absence, Anti returns, and the group confronts him one last time.

The summer days were growing short again. Weeks had passed since Chase, Jack, and JJ had gone to hide out with Stacy and the kids, and now it was a month away from school starting again. There had been no sign of Schneep, and Jack wouldn’t lie: he was really worried about that. Luckily, he had something to take his mind off of that for right now.

“Okay, just across the room, no support from walls,” Jack said, crossing the living room to stand on the other side across from Jameson.

JJ hesitated, unsure. _Can I use support if I start to fall?_

“Yeah, of course. I’ll also be ready to catch you if you start to lose it.”

JJ sighed through his mask, and leaned away the wall he’d been supporting himself on. He wobbled slightly, then slowly started walking across the room. Jack watched, tensing every time JJ stumbled. But after a few minutes, JJ got into a rhythm, and soon made it to the other side. As soon as he was able, he grabbed Jack for support.

“Great!” Jack said, trying to sound enthusiastic. “You’re still limping, but you’re getting faster. How’s it feel?”

 _Still twinges a bit,_ JJ admitted. It was a bit awkward as he was trying to keep hold of Jack while signing. _But infinitely better._

“That’s great, real great.” Jack nodded. “You want to stop or keep going?”

 _We can stop, it’s fine,_ JJ said. He reached over and grabbed a cane leaning against the wall. It was a cheap metal model that Stacy had bought online once she’d realized JJ was having trouble walking. She’d grumbled a bit about how nobody was telling her what had caused this, but Jameson had been thankful anyway.

“Alright, if you’re sure.” Jack let Jameson walk over to the nearest chair on his own, making sure he got there safely before ducking out of the room and into the dining room.

Chase was in there, sitting at the table with his two daughters, markers and construction paper scattered about the surface. Lily was happily scribbling on a piece of green paper, while Moira was carefully cutting multicolored paper into strips and looping them through each other, making a paper chain as she stapled the loops closed.

“Dad, look!” Lily held up her drawing.

“Oh, very nice!” Chase said, smiling. “It’s a puppy, right?”

“It’s a pega-puppy, half pegasus, half puppy!” Lily said cheerfully. “I’m gonna make a uni-puppy too. They will be friends.”

“Nice, I look forward to meeting them.” Chase looked over to see Jack standing in the doorway. “Oh. Hey bro, didn’t see you there.”

“Hi Uncle Jack!” Lily waved.

Moira looked up briefly from her paper chain. “Hi.”

“Hey girls,” Jack said, waving. “Just checking on the three of you. How’re you doing?”

“Oh, we’re good.” Chase’s voice was very upbeat. “We’re doing arts and crafts to surprise Mom when she gets home from work.” 

“Cool. Good luck with that.” Jack glanced out the window. The sun was still high in the sky. “I’m…going to go take a walk.”

“Wait, by yourself?” Chase’s cheerful expression dropped a bit. “Are you sure? What about—” He glanced at the girls. “—the bad guy?”

“We haven’t seen him for a month now, not since we…you know, found out.” Jack tried to shrug casually. “I think it’s alright.”

“Maybe he’s just waiting for one of us to be alone,” Chase said, now fully worried. He stood up. “Look, I’ll just come with—”

“No, it’s fine, you keep having fun,” Jack hurried to say. “I’ll be back in an hour, I just…want to look for Schneep again.”

“I really don’t think you should—”

“Chase, it’s fine,” Jack said firmly. “I won’t go too far.” Even though that could possibly impede his search, if he stuck to familiar places, but who knows? Maybe Schneep would have wandered into the area. “Look at your kids, they’re so excited. You should stay with them.”

Chase slowly sat back down. “Be careful,” he said. “Take my…you-know-what, if you need to. It’s in the bedroom.”

“I will. See you later.”

Jack found the gun right where Chase said it would be, in the dresser drawer by the bed. He did stick to close-by areas. The walk was partially a search for Schneep, but if he had to be honest with himself, Jack…didn’t think any of them would be able to find Schneep. They’d been looking for a month, and had yet to even pick up a hint of him. For all they knew, Schneep might’ve vanished off the face of the earth.

But Jack didn’t even voice those concerns to himself. Surely if he went out looking one more time he could find him. Maybe just one more time would help. Maybe just one more time.

But of course, there was nothing.

* * *

Later that evening, Chase made dinner (which is to say, mac ‘n’ cheese for everyone), Stacy came home and put on a movie for the kids in the living room, and the three men gathered together in the bedroom: Chase lying on the bed, Jack sitting on the floor, and JJ taking the chair from the desk. “So, uh…how’d it go?” Chase asked. “The walk, I mean, Jack.”

“It was alright,” Jack said. “I mean, I didn’t find anything. But I didn’t run into you-know-who either.”

 _Voldemort?_ JJ asked, amused.

“Ha ha. No, you know what I mean,” Jack said, rolling his eyes.

Chase exhaled slowly. “Okay, that’s good. But, like, we should come up with a plan for if we see him again.”

 _I thought we had one of those,_ JJ said, confused.

“I mean, like, if we run into him while we’re alone. ‘Cause you know, that changes the whole plan.”

JJ sighed. _Chase, while we’re on the subject, let’s talk about the plan._

Chase laughed nervously. “What about it?”

 _It’s just…are we sure this will…have the result we want?_ JJ asked delicately.

“I don’t see why it won’t,” Chase said. “Jack pulled out the soul…string…thing once before, he can do it again. And An—he’ll go poof, just like last time.”

 _Alright, that makes sense,_ JJ said. _But…are we sure that we can destroy it?_

“Well, I don’t know, do _you_ think we can do that, Mr. Magic Man?” Chase asked.

Jack piped up. “I have seen your Dr. Strange magic cut through some of his strings before. If your magic is focused on helping people, just think about how getting rid of him will help all of us.”

 _That string wasn’t an ordinary string,_ Jameson protested. _It’s more likely that it’s the remains of whatever black magic is holding him together. My magic might not be up for the task._ He paused. _And besides…even if it does, are we_ sure _that…what we expect to happen…will happen?_

Chase narrowed his eyes, and sat up. “What d’you mean?”

Jameson leaned back in the chair. _All I’m saying is that…we don’t know that Marvin and Jackie will return if we destroy the string._

“It makes sense that they would,” Chase protested. “I mean, I would argue that their bodies are, y’know, buried and worse, but last time they somehow came back anyway. This spell is what made them…like this, so if we get rid of the spell, it would undo it.”

 _But that’s just a guess, Chase._ Jameson was trying to sign gently, eyes sympathetic above his mask. _There’s no solid knowledge that this will happen._

“There’s no solid knowledge about any of this! This is whole new magic territory, apparently!”

“Well, we have to try, don’t we?” Jack interrupted.

 _I’m not saying we don’t try,_ Jameson said.

“Kinda sounds like you are,” Chase mumbled.

_All I’m saying is that we’re expecting to get them back the same way they apparently were before. But realistically, black magic of this magnitude would leave effects. The transference spell is already extremely destructive, and now it’s gone wrong, leaving any number of side effects._

“ _Anti_ is the side effect!” Chase shouted, getting to his feet. “We’re trying to get rid of him!”

 _Actually, Chase, I think you’re trying to get your friends back,_ Jameson said.

Silence. Chase went white, gaping. Jack stood up, looking between the two of them before going to stand by Chase. He started to reach out, but stopped. “Alright,” Chase said quietly. “So what if I am? So what if I am?! I want my best friends back, sue me for that! And we have a chance to try and get them, try to have everything go back to normal after the shit storm our lives have been! So what if I want that?!” His voice cracked.

 _There’s nothing wrong with that,_ Jameson signed slowly. _But…we shouldn’t be expecting anything. There’s a high likelihood that they won’t come back. And if they do, they won’t be the same._

“I’m trying to be optimistic!”

 _No, you’re refusing to accept the possibility of failure!_ Jameson suddenly signed sharply.

“Um, guys?” Jack said. “Maybe—”

“I’m _hoping_ that my friends come back!” Chase shouted, tears rising to his eyes. “What would you know about that?! You didn’t know them! You didn’t even _have_ friends before we came along, Jameson Jackson!”

If silence fell before, here it crashed down. Tension filled the air, thick enough to almost be visible. Jameson stared at Chase with wide eyes. Jack gaped at Chase, his expression similar. To his credit, Chase immediately realized what he’d done, and his face grew even whiter. “JJ…I—I didn’t mean—”

Jameson pushed to his feet. With the help of his cane, he walked over to the doorway. Before leaving, he turned back around, leaning against the doorframe. _Say what you will, Chase,_ he signed coldly. _Perhaps you’re right, and I’m being callous because I never knew either of them. But just be sure. Be sure you’re prepared for whatever this plan will give you. Be prepared for them to be hollow shells like they were that week after we first defeated him. Be prepared for them to be completely different and foreign, even hostile. Be prepared for them to NOT BE THERE AT ALL._ Jameson paused. _If you’re prepared for all of that, then I’ll be confident trying our plan._ He turned and left without another word.

Chase remained frozen for a few long seconds. Then, silently he started to cry. “I…I didn’t mean…oh fuck.” He buried his face in his hands. “Oh fuck, I fucked up.”

Jack looked like he wanted to agree, but didn’t say anything.

“I-I should go say something, right? I should go apologize. I-I didn’t mean it.” Despite saying this, Chase didn’t move from the spot. His feet remained rooted to the ground.

“Maybe not right now…” Jack suggested. “You’re both…a little heated, take some time to cool down. Maybe tomorrow.”

“Yeah…yeah, that sounds good.” Chase lifted his face from his hands, his eyes rimmed with red. “I’ll…go…take a nap. Or something.”

“Oh. Uh…well, this is your room, so I’ll…go, then.” Jack sidled away, heading for the door. He glanced back at Chase, to see he still hadn’t moved.

“Hey…Jack,” Chase said, noticing his hesitation. “You…you do think there’s a chance, right? That we’ll get them back?”

Jack was quiet for a long time. “I think…that there’s a way. If you forced me to choose—which, let’s be honest, I kind of am being, here—the plan we have is our best shot at getting them back. Maybe…” He paused a moment, thinking. “..maybe they won’t be _exactly_ the same. But we’ll be there to help them.” Another pause. “But there is a chance…it won’t…”

Chase didn’t react to that, aside from a slight stiffening. Jack stayed hovering in the doorway, waiting for something else. When it never came, he simply left, closing the door behind him.

In the hallway now, Jack sighed, pressing his forehead against the wall. For a moment, he stayed there, feeling the weight of everything press down on him. He was…tired. And tense. And he guessed the others felt much the same.

* * *

The next morning was a quiet one. Stacy took the kids to the park, perhaps sensing the leftover tension and deciding to get out of the way. Still, it was almost an hour after they left, and Chase and JJ had yet to interact again after the fight yesterday. It got to the point where Jack cornered each of them separately and told them to meet him in the kitchen.

Of course, once each of them got there and saw the other, things got awkward real quick. The two of them sat on either side of the kitchen table with Jack at the head in between them.

“So…” Jack said, clearing his throat. “I think…people…we…you guys need to talk?”

 _In case you haven’t noticed, that’s impossible,_ JJ remarked.

Jack winced. “You know what I mean. Yesterday was…hard for all of us.”

“Jays, you know I didn’t mean it,” Chase blurted out. “I-I was just…upset because…” He waved his hands vaguely. “I guess just—i-it was enough finding out that Marvin and Jackie are…him. I-I’m still not…anyway, it was just like you were…I mean, it’s not impossible, right? Which it kind of…felt like you were saying. You know?”

JJ stayed silent. Jack tried very hard not to facepalm. He could tell that could’ve gone better, even if he didn’t have Jameson’s reaction to go by.

Before anyone could say anything else, the front door of the house opened and slammed shut. “Chase?!” Stacy shouted.

Chase cursed under his breath, then stood up. “I’ll be back,” he said, leaving to go back into the living room.

Stacy was standing in the middle of the room, purse clutched tight to her chest, and her face very pale. “Chase, where are Lily and Moira?”

“What? Aren’t they with you?” Chase asked.

“They were! Now I don’t know where the hell they are!” Stacy threw her purse down onto the couch. She blinked back furious tears. “They were on the playground, Moira was pushing Lily on the swings. I went to buy a bottle of water, they were within earshot, it was fine, and then I turn around and they were gone! Where the hell are our kids, Chase?!”

Chase couldn’t answer. He backed up into the nearest chair and collapsed, shaking slightly.

Jack poked his head into the room. He immediately looked like he wanted to back away, but then he noticed Chase. “What happened?” he asked, stepping fully into the room.

Chase covered his mouth with his hand, pulling at his bandanna with the the other. He shook his head.

Stacy looked between the two of them. “What’s going on?!”

“I knew this would happen…” Chase choked out. “I shouldn’t have come here, I-I didn’t want to involve you, a-and now look what’s happened!”

“It’s him, isn’t it?” Jack asked softly. Behind him, JJ also appeared, leaning on the door frame.

“He has my fucking kids,” Chase said, a sob ripping out of his throat.

“What?!” Jack rushed over to Chase’s side. “No no no, he can’t! He’s never involved anyone but us!”

“They’re gone, Jack!” Chase cried. “It was only t-time before h-he went after someone we knew…to get to us…we ne-never should’ve come here!”

“Oh shit.” Jack paled. “No no no, this is okay, we’ll go get them back!”

“That’s what he’ll be expecting,” Chase whispered. 

Suddenly, a buzzing noise came from Stacy’s purse. She frowned, walking over to where it was on the couch and picking it up again. Digging around in it, she pulled out her phone and checked the screen. Her eyes widened. “I just got a text from an unknown number,” she said in a hushed voice.

“What’s it say?” Jack asked tentatively. Chase looked down, holding his head in his hands.

“‘I want my puppet back,’“ Stacy read out loud. “‘You know where to go. All of you can come, if you want, but if you try anything’…” She swallowed nervously. “‘…you can say goodbye to the girls. You have until noon.’ Holy shit…”

“We gotta do it,” Chase mumbled. His fingers bunched his hair, pulling it. “We gotta go. They’re just kids…”

Jack glanced over at Jameson, who’d been standing quietly the whole time. Jameson looked at him as well, and nodded. _I agree…we can’t let anything happen to them. But we can’t go in without a plan, of some sorts._

“You mean… _the_ plan?” Jack asked.

Jameson paused then shook his head. _I don’t know. Maybe that would be too risky. But this’ll be the third time we go into his territory, it would be foolish to not have some sort of fail-safe in case…he doesn’t keep his word._

“What if we just did it?” Chase asked. “What if we just went through with it, a-and you guys came back for me later? I lasted five months, it can’t be too—”

“Chase, holy shit, no!” Jack cried, aghast. “You’re not going back there!”

“Wait, what?” Stacy suddenly asked.

“Long story,” Jack said to her. “And, uh…not my place.” He looked down at Chase, but he didn’t seem in the mood to explain anything right now. “The point is, there are a million better options before we go… _there._ ”

“Do you think he’d really hurt them?” Chase asked dully. “I mean…since he’s actually them. Do you think any part of them would do something like that? I know Marv didn’t like kids much, but he was always nice to them, at least.”

 _We can’t take the chance,_ JJ said, shaking his head. He brushed away his bracelets to check his wristwatch. _It’s nearly eleven o’clock, he said we only have until noon. We need to hurry._

“Hold on!” Stacy held up her hands, asking them to stop. “You’re all talking about this as if I’m not here! You know, their _mother?_ Whatever you’re doing to get them back, I’m going with you!”

“Stace, no…” Chase said softly, a sort of whimper in his voice. “You can’t get involved in this…then the kids will have nowhere safe to go.”

“I’m sick of you not telling me anything!” Stacy insisted. “Stop talking over me!”

Chase didn’t respond, just kept his eyes fixed down in his lap. Jack cleared his throat. “Stacy…I get it, this is awful. But…well, he has a point. After we get the kids back, we…we should leave. So nothing else happens.”

Stacy looked between the three men, gaping. None of them would meet her eyes. Her gaze lingered on Chase, who was still resolutely not looking up. For a moment, her expression softened. “I’m not an idiot,” she said, though the words lacked bite. “I know this is dangerous. I can tell something’s happened. You…you don’t have the _energy_ you used to, Chase.” She paused, waiting for a response that never came. “I just can’t sit by while the kids are in danger. I want to be…involved.”

“Understandable,” Chase muttered. “But please, _please_ don’t. Just…don’t.”

Saying nothing, Stacy picked her purse back up and walked past Jameson, vanishing down the hall.

“God, this is all going to hell,” Jack muttered.

 _No_ shit, _Jack,_ Jameson said, eliciting a slight gasp from the other two at the unexpected language. _Look, can we just focus on the current situation? We only have an hour to plan, and it’ll take forty minutes to walk to his lair._

Jack sighed. “Alright, everyone, let’s talk this over…”

Fifteen minutes later, the three of them walked out of the house, starting down the sidewalk towards the now-familiar location of Anti’s hideout. The plan they’d concocted still wasn’t solid; it was more of a rough outline than anything, relying on the one they’d already discussed, with the promise that they’d wing it if anything came up. Which, honestly, did not inspire any of them with much confidence.

* * *

Things had changed. Though Anti’s lair was still located in the same abandoned building, though the stairs inside still led down to a hallway lit red…things had changed. It was something in the air, something sharp, like ozone. Something that made the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Walking down the hallway, Jack, Chase, and Jameson found themselves huddling together.

“We’re all ready?” Jack muttered. “Do we need to review anything?” Neither Chase nor JJ responded, so he kept talking. “Remember, we’re going to look like we’re agreeing, but we’re not, so don’t be worried, Chase.”

“I’m not,” Chase said automatically.

“JJ, you’re ready with your magic? Both to protect and go after the string thingy when I—”

 _Yes, Jack,_ Jameson signed quickly. _Now be careful what you say._

Jack decided to stop talking.

The hallway didn’t twist and turn or connect to other hallways. Instead of the maze the hideout had been the last two times, the corridor opened up into a big, circular room. Red lightbulbs in the ceiling lit up most things, though there were shadows around the edges. The floor and walls were concrete, making it look rather like a large basement. And in the middle of the room, three figures were sitting on the floor. The kids, of course, and…

They knew it was Anti. But that didn’t stop Jack and Chase from freezing when they saw him.

Lily, chattering about something, was the first to look up and notice the three who’d just come in. She waved. “Hi Dad!” She seemed completely unconcerned about everything. Moira, on the other hand, was more aware. She had her arms wrapped around Lily, holding her close to her chest, her shoulders and expression tense.

Anti looked over at the group. He smiled, and stood up. “Oh hello there. So nice of you to show up. Though a little earlier would’ve been better, instead of waiting until the last minute. Literally. 11:59′s pushing it a bit, isn’t it?” He laughed. “Well? Come in, come closer.”

The three of them looked at each other. Jameson clutched Jack’s arm, half-leaning on him. Chase swallowed visibly. Silently, they took a few steps into the room, getting halfway to Anti before they all decided to stop.

“Though, maybe I don’t mind as much,” Anti continued nonchalantly. “Gives me more time with these cuties. We’ve been having fun, haven’t we?”

Lily nodded, giggling. “Yeah, Uncle Jackie.”

Moira didn’t answer, merely held her sister closer. She was old enough to know that if you went to a funeral for someone, that meant they weren’t coming back.

Anti smiled widely. It was unnerving, how close it was to the way Jackie would smile. But there was something…off about it. Just enough to set someone on edge. “Well…unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.” Anti shoved his hands inside the pocket of the red hoodie he wore, and turned to look at the others. “And I need to talk to your dad.”

“Aw, do we gotta? It’s been so long,” Lily pouted. Moira, still holding her, stood up, pulling her sister along.

Chase cleared his throat. “H-hey Lils? Moira? Why don’t you…come over here?”

“Why don’t y̶̴͠ơu͏ come over h̸er͟e, Chase?” Anti asked. He gestured to the kids. “Don’t you want to talk to them for a while?”

Chase paled further, his face now white. He looked back at the other two. As a group, they started to walk closer.

After a while, Anti held up a hand. “That’s close enough, you two,” he said, eyes landing on Jack and JJ. “I only want to talk to Chase.”

“A-are you—” Jack started to ask something, but then Jameson squeezed his arm, cutting him off. He gave him a look that said ‘be careful.’

“Am I sure? Yes, I’m sure.” Anti grinned. For a moment, his eyes flickered green. “Now, come cl̶os͢er̛.”

Chase hesitated, then closed the distance. Once he was close enough, he knelt down on the ground to be eye-level with the kids. “Hey, girls,” he said gently. “How are you?”

“We’re fine, Dad,” Moira said tensely. Lily nodded along.

“That’s great.” Chase tried to smile. “Well, Mom was really nervous, you know? She didn’t know you were leaving.”

“Really? Uncle Jackie said she said it was okay,” Lily said, confused.

“Well, maybe she didn’t expect you to be gone so long,” Chase said softly. “It’s time to go home now, before she starts worrying. You go with Uncle Jack and JJ, okay? I’ll stay here and talk with…Jackie.”

“Alright, Dad. We’re going.” Moira shuffled to the side, away from Anti, taking Lily with her. Once she’d shuffled around Chase, she let go of Lily and grabbed her hand, running the rest of the distance to Jack and Jameson. 

Before Chase could stand up, Anti settled a hand down on top of his shoulder, preventing him from getting up. “Well?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. “You heard him, it’s time for all of you to go home. If you stay any longer, something might hap͠p̡e̴n̶. Give us some privacy to talk, huh?”

Jack reached down and took Moira’s other hand. He nodded slowly, and started backing up, bringing the rest of the group with him. Briefly, his left eye flickered closed, activating his soul vision. Chase and JJ’s were the same as ever. The kids had soul lights as well—iris for Moira, peach for Lily—shining brighter than any other lights in the room. And Anti’s soul was still a mess, red and blue shards meshed together and tangled with green string. But…was it just his imagination, or did the mess of shards look somehow…looser?

Anti and Chase watched as Jack, Jameson, and the kids retreated, staring at them until they disappeared into the doorway. Once they were out of sight, Anti grabbed Chase by the bandanna and pulled him up. Chase choked in surprise. “Hello again, p͢͡u̴p̸͞p͝ę̛͝t,” Anti said cheerfully. His form flickered, and the disguise of Jackie fell away like unraveling fabric, revealing Anti as the others had always known him. “I m̢͏i̛͞s̴̢s̴e͏̵d̢̕͝ you.”

Chase didn’t respond. He reached up and tried to loosen Anti’s hold on his bandanna, but his grip was firm, and it was pulling the knot tighter.

“Oh?” Anti grabbed Chase’s wrist with his other hand. He squeezed it. Chase stiffened. Then his body went limp, his eyes dull. Anti smiled. “That’s b̨̢et͟t̨̨eŗ̸̨. You can do without these wristbands, you kn—”

A disc of blue light whirled towards Anti, slicing across his arms. Anti yelled, and dropped Chase, who fell to the ground unmoving. Spinning around, he saw Jack and Jameson standing in the doorway, glaring at him identically. Jack held a kitchen knife in one hand, and Jameson had two of his magic circles balancing on his fingers. Some ways into the hall behind them, there was another blue glow, the same shade as Jameson’s magic.

Anti scowled, but suddenly, smiled. “Clever, clever. I should’ve k͠no͠͏̡w̸n you weren’t going to g҉o ͢͞t̴̕h͟ro͢uģh̷ with this.” He tilted his head. “But then again, maybe I͞ ͇̻̦̟̣̣͡d̖͈͡i̼͖͟d͍̦̹͎.̥”

His eyes suddenly glazed over with static, red on his left and blue on his right. White noise filled the air as he raised his hands, and slammed them downward. The ground rumbled, and cracks shot across the floor, cutting through the concrete, forming a line between Anti and Chase, and Jack and Jameson. Anti grinned, holding his hands out again, close together. Slowly, he made a motion like he was pulling something apart, glitches and static racking his form. The ground shook again. Jameson fell to the floor with a muffled cry, and Jack leaned against the wall to keep from doing the same. The cracks in the floor widened, and slowly, the part of the room Anti was standing on started drifting away from the other half, leaving a widening crevice behind, dropping down into blackness.

“Shit!” Jack cried. He rushed forward. The ground rumbled again, and he fell hard as it lurched beneath his feet. The knife clattered against the concrete.

Jameson lifted himself into a kneeling position, and flung out a hand. Blue light attached itself to either edge of the crevice, sticky strands made of runes forming a rough bridge. Anti scowled, and once again made the pulling-apart gesture. The room shook, slowly at first, then rising into a violent quake. The two sides strained to pull away. Jameson reached out with both hands, clenching his fists like he was physically holding the room together. The strands of magic multiplied and dug into the ground. Jameson caught Jack’s eye and gestured with his head towards the magic bridge.

Jack climbed to his feet, grabbing the kitchen knife. He ran towards the bridge. He skidded to a halt once he reached the edge of the ravine. He glanced down, and paled. “Chase!” He shouted.

On the other side of the ravine, Chase stirred, and weakly tried to get up. But Anti noticed. He stepped on Chase’s back, pushing him back down. Static running along his limbs, breaking them apart, Anti made the pulling-apart gesture one more time.

The room shook, bucking and heaving. Jack stumbled, almost falling headfirst into the ravine before backing up. Jameson fell onto his side. A few strands of the magic bridge snapped. Jameson reached out again, his eyes flaring brighter blue. The bridge repaired itself, more strands appearing, but it was taunt. Jameson was shivering, beads of sweat trailing down his face as he fought to keep the room together.

Jack took a deep breath, and ran forward, stepping onto the magic bridge. He sprinted across it, the magic almost bouncing beneath his feet. Anti screamed, and the room shook again. Jack managed to step onto the other side, just as the ravine shot open wider, snapping the bridge in half. On the other side of the room, Jameson’s hands fell to the ground, his eyes closing as he went very still.

“Y̢͟o͡͏u̶.̷͢͢” Anti growled, pointing at Jack. “Are by far the w̨͉̠̘̳ͅo͏̸̸̫̦͈͕̗r̝͇͉̝̘̹̟̕̕s̙̹̩̭̻͠͠t̨̠͝ one. I ̵h̛͠a̡͢t̵̢͠e̛ ̸̕yo͞͞u͏̵ s̯̝o̧͎͉̬̬̟̻̹.̪̣̘̦ ͎͍̜̳̜ _M̭̖͇̖̯u̻͔̲͇c̦̫̲h̬_. ”

“I figured that out a while ago,” Jack muttered, feeling all his old scars twinge. He gripped the knife tightly and pointed it at Anti. “Let him go.”

Anti burst into laughter. “Or w̨̛hat̸?”

“Or this!” Jack ran forward, quickly closing the distance. Anti chuckled, and just as Jack drew near, glitched away, reappearing behind him. Jack skidded to a halt and spun around.

“ _Wo̷̢͟w̧͡_ , good job.” Anti clapped. “Have you considered th̷̢͢is̷?” He reached to the side and pulled out a knife of his own, taking a swipe at Jack. Yelping, Jack jumped backwards, but Anti glitched again, reappearing behind Jack just as he was stepping backwards. Pain blossomed from a point on Jack’s lower back, and before he could even respond to that, Anti pushed him forward onto the ground. Once again, Jack dropped the knife. “You’re so p͠͝aţ̕͢het̵i̴̷͞c̷. Even Schneep had a fighting spirit, this is just s͏̢a͟d̨͠.”

Dimly, Jack registered that this wasn’t going well. Then immediately, the part of him that wasn’t concerned with the stab wound in his back went _YOU THINK?!_ They hadn’t been counting on Anti somehow knocking Chase out of the fight right from the start. They hadn’t realized that Anti would be able to pull the room apart. They hadn’t thought about how the effort of holding the room together would make Jameson pass out, leaving Jack the only one left. Even if they had come up with a more thorough plan, their efforts still would’ve failed, because they hadn’t been expecting any of _this._

“What would you do…” Anti raised his left hand. “…if you just..,drop͞p̨e̸͢d̛͝͠?” And he clenched his fist, sending a wave of static into the air.

The ground beneath Jack started shaking and bucking violently. Cracks appeared in its surface, spreading rapidly across the concrete. Every time he tried to stand up, Jack lost his balance. He watched pieces of the floor wall away and leave blackness behind. Anti was laughing. Jack kept trying to get up or roll away, but the small earthquake was too wild, pushing him back to place every time. The floor was giving away and he braced himself—

Anti screamed.

The ground settled. Jack quickly scrambled away from the cracks that remained on its surface. Once he was on solid ground, he looked up to see Anti…fighting with someone. At first he thought it was Chase, but then the person drew away from the fight, and realization struck him like lightning. “Schneep?!” He gasped.

Schneep turned toward him, responding to the sound of his voice. He wore a long black coat over his outfit, and held a pair of scissors in his hand. His eyes were…different. The scars were still there, underneath his eyes in the shape of tears, but now his irises glowed turquoise, his scleras black. He grinned. “Hello, Jack. Nice to, ah, _see_ you again. In the metaphor sense.”

Jack laughed a bit. “Y-yeah,” he said, climbing to his feet. “Where have you been?”

“Is a long story, and not one that can be summed up easily,” Schneep said. “Especially not now.”

Anti shrieked, the sound more akin to an electronic whine than anything human. His form was glitching so hard that it was causing him to stumble and stagger. Eventually it settled, and he glared at Schneep. “You think you’re ş̸̴m͡a̡rt̵?̧̨!̧” He demanded.

“Well…” Schneep held up his scissors. A length of green string was caught in their blades. He snapped the scissors shut, cutting the string in half. “Yes.”

Anti growled. He clutched at his left arm…which was still glitching pretty severely, despite the rest of his body being fine. Glancing down, Jack’s eyes widened when he saw Anti’s hand separated from his wrist, dangling from a few strands of green thread. The string soon snapped, and the hand fell to the ground, where it glitched out of existence. The wound that was left dripped colorful static instead of blood.

Shocked, Jack closed his eye, activating his soul vision. The mess of shards that was Anti’s soul looked even _looser_ than before. And as he glanced at Schneep’s soul, something seemed…different about it, too. In a way he couldn’t quite describe.

“You want to f̡ig͡͏̸ḩ͢t͞?̷̧” Anti summoned his knife with his remaining hand. “Le͢ţ’s ̸ge̴t̶ to it!̷” He lunged at Schneep. 

Schneep didn’t even turn toward him, instead vanishing. The air behind Anti sliced open and Schneep stepped out, wrapping his arms around Anti’s torso. Anti shrieked again, and glitched to the side, swiping with his knife. Schneep countered with the scissors, and jabbed them forward. Anti backed up and slashed again. This time, Schneep opened the scissors, catching the knife in between the two blades. Quickly, he snapped the scissors shut and twisted, yanking the knife out of Anti’s grip. He grabbed the knife’s handle, now armed with two weapons. “Jack, make sure Chase is alright,” he said. “He feels like he is, but better safe than sorry.”

“What?”

Anti summoned another knife, darting forward while Schneep seemed distracted. But Schneep was gone. Now he was on the other side of the room, the other side of the ravine. Anti screamed, and glitched over, and the fighting began again.

Jack scrambled over to where Chase was. He turned him over, eyes scanning him. Chase’s eyes were open, but dulled. His chest was rising and falling slowly. Jack wanted to check his pulse, but he didn’t want to remove the bandanna or the wristbands without permission. “Chase? Are you okay, bud?” Jack asked, gently shaking his shoulder.

Chase blinked, and mumbled something unintelligible. 

“Dude, come on, wake up! Or, well, you’re not exactly asleep—snap out of it!” He shook him harder, and Chase groaned, the dull look in his eyes fading a bit. “Chase, say something!”

“…something…” Chase muttered.

Jack laughed hysterically. “Okay, that’s good. How do you feel?”

“…kinda foggy,” Chase said slowly. “What…he squeezed my wrist, and I…”

“Maybe that was a pressure point or a trigger point or something?” Jack guessed.

“Maybe…” Chase squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them wide. “What’s going on?”

“Um…Schneep showed up, cut Anti’s hand off, and now they’re fighting.”

“…I must be really out of it, ‘cause I thought you said Schneep cut Anti’s hand off.”

“Nope, that wasn’t just you, bud,” Jack said, shaking his head. He pointed across the room to the fight boiling between Schneep and Anti. The two of them were disappearing and reappearing, much like they had when Schneep’s magic first manifested in the apartment. But this seemed more controlled, more deliberate.

Chase sat up slowly, squinting. “…oh. He doesn’t have a hand.”

“Yeah.”

“…what…the fuck?” Chase said. His voice was soft, but it contained a lot of feeling.

“I know, dude, here, just let me help you up.”

The two of them stood, staring across the ravine in the floor at the fight. “JJ…” Chase whispered, pointing across to where Jameson laid on the floor, still unconscious.

“I know…” Jack looked down at the ravine. “How’re we going to get across?”

Chase didn’t have time to answer, because just then, Anti and Schneep disappeared, reappearing three feet away from them. Jack and Chase cried out in unison, stumbling back. Schneep ducked one of Anti’s blows and tackled him, pushing him to the ground. Then suddenly, the world fell apart and sewed itself together. And Schneep was standing upright again, but Anti wasn’t. Schneep walked over to Chase and Jack and silently grabbed the two of them. The air shivered, and suddenly they were on the other side of the room, right by—

“Jameson!” Chase cried, kneeling next to him. “Hey, hey, dude. Wake up!”

Anti screamed. He glitched upright, then over to their group, lashing out at them with the knife. Schneep grabbed his arm, and suddenly he was attacking his wrist with his scissors. Anti yelled, dropping the knife in surprise, and glitched back a bit. His right hand was now dangling from green thread, though it didn’t fall away. Static crawled over his body. He laughed and screamed at once, flickering and staggering, appearance shifting between himself, Marvin, and Jackie. 

“Jack, this is very important,” Schneep said. “You remember how you pulled out that string?”

“Yeah,” Jack said. “We were planning on doing that again.”

“Good! Do it. But first, we need to snip snip the stitches on his neck.”

“The—oh.” Jack hadn’t thought much about the green stitches holding Anti’s throat wound closed. They were…awful, but he’d just accepted them as part of Anti’s appearance. “Alright, got it.”

“What about me?” Chase asked.

“Make sure Jack and Jamie do not get hurt while I do this,” Schneep said, raising the scissors and pointing them at Anti.

“You̢’re ͠a̸ll̡ ͡w̢eak!” Anti yelled, words barely audible through static and distortion. He stumbled, legs glitching into broken pieces. Pieces of red and blue static sliced through his body. “Awfu̸l, ͡tęrr͟i͡ble͠—͢ _h͞ap̢py̡_ p̨e̛ople! ̸W̶h̷y a̕r͝e̢ y̛o̶u h͢ap͡py?!̶ W̕h̴y̶ ̨am ͞I ͞be̵ing̵ ͠torn̛ ąp̕a̡r͞t—breaking͏,͝ a͏gony, pa͡i̴n pain͞ ̴pai̡n—͡a̧nd͢ ̨y͠ou̵ are ͢nǫt?͟!̕ Hap̢py̵, ͞ha̕pp͏y—l̸i͏vin̢g, ͡livi͏ng! I hat̶e̛ you! I ͞H̛A҉TĘ ̧Y͢OU͠!̵ YOU͡ ͏SHOU̸L͞D̶ ̨S̢UFF̧E̶R ͠L͠IKE̵ WE A̛RE!” He laughed, and cried, and screamed all at once. And then he lunged at them, arms outstretched, no weapons bared, eyes red and blue and green.

Schneep ducked. He opened the scissors wide, flipped them in his hand, and sliced. Anti stopped where he was, a wound on his chest bleeding static. He staggered back, then laughed and lunged again in a blind attack. Schneep pushed him back, away from the others. Anti snarled and screamed and laughed and sobbed and shouted all at once, arms breaking into glitchy pieces as he tried to attack blindly, punching and clawing. Schneep remained calm, deflecting every wild blow. Anti paused for just the slightest moment, and that’s when Schneep struck. He darted forward, slicing with the blade of the scissors. The slash cut cleanly through the stitches on Anti’s neck.

“Jack, now!” Schneep yelled. Jack ran forward. He hesitated for a moment. Anti was falling apart, a million voices coming out of his mouth, static leaking from his neck and various wounds, a mess of glitches and static with the image of his friends thrown in. But Jack steeled himself, and plunged his hand into the glitchy mess’s chest. His fingers grabbed something, and he pulled. Out came the green string. Schneep reached out, and Jack quickly handed it to him. He folded the string in on itself a couple time, then cut through the bundled up mess with the scissors.

Three screams at once rang out through the room. Then Anti flew apart, glitches and static bursting outward. There was nothing left.

Schneep dropped the remains of the green strings, panting. “That…was easier than I was expecting,” he said.

“ _Easy?!_ ” Chase repeated incredulously.

“Yes. I suppose he fell apart the more damage we did. It makes sense.” Schneep nodded.

Jack was rendered speechless. He stared at Schneep, gaping. “I—what—how—oh my—what?” He shook his head. “The string. We thought it couldn’t be cut.”

“Special scissors.” Schneep snipped said scissors a couple times. “I…picked them up. Is a long story.”

“Broooo!” Chase shouted. “That was epic! How’d you learn to do any of that?! That was badass!”

Schneep smiled softly. “Well…I have been practicing. After a certain…encounter made me realize what I could do, I decided to form a plan to take Anti down. And…thank you. You are all alright?”

“We’re fine, yeah,” Jack said. “Well…JJ’s still out.”

“Is he?” Schneep asked. “Someone should carry him out of here.”

“I got it.” Chase scooped JJ into his arms. He glanced toward the back of the room. His eyes widened. “Uh…guys? Look at that.”

Jack turned to follow his gaze. The wall on the opposite side of the room was cracking, the concrete turning black and falling apart. “That…can’t be good.”

“What? What is it?” Schneep asked. 

“Oh…so you still can’t see?” Jack asked.

“What? No! Why do you think I make that joke earlier? I just…I feel where people are, and it makes it easier.”

“Well, the room is falling apart. We should go.” Jack grabbed Schneep’s hand and started walking toward the doorway.

“You got the kids out?” Chase asked, following.

“Yes, we told them to go down the hall and up the stairs and wait for us outside the building. JJ put protection around them like we planned.” Jack frowned. “Though…maybe that went away after he passed out.”

Chase picked up the pace.

Once they left the building, they found Lily and Moira sitting on the pavement outside, perfectly fine. Chase started to cry. “Hey girls,” he said softly.

“Hi Dad,” Moira said.

“Hi Dad!” Lily shouted, waving. “Hi Uncle Hen! Uncle Jack! Why is Uncle JJ asleep? Where did Uncle Jackie go?”

Chase fell silent. “I think…he’s gone. R…right, Schneep?”

Schneep said nothing, then nodded softly. “I think he is,” he said quietly.

Tears started to pour faster from Chase’s eyes, but he swallowed the sobs. Not in front of the girls. “Well…c’mon, we’re going home, now. And we’ll tell you everything on the way.”

It was a long walk back to the house.

Once they arrived, Stacy and the girls reunited tearfully. She again demanded that they tell her what happened, but even though it was the middle of the day, everyone agreed they needed a rest. Chase promised to explain everything to her that evening.

They all took separate rooms, with Schneep staying with Jack for a while. He also promised explanations later.

Once he was alone, Chase started to cry in earnest.

They really were gone now.


	17. Torn Apart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now reunited with the others, Schneep has some explaining to do. But at least Anti has been defeated...probably. It seems there are odd goings-on in the city, unknown to the group.

The evening was clear, the twilight sky tinged purple. Chase, sitting on the front steps of the house, watched the cars drive down the street. The concrete steps were still a bit warm from the late summer sun. It might’ve been peaceful, if…

The front door swung open, and Jack poked his head out. “Hey, uh…you good, Chase?” he asked. “You’ve been out here for a while.”

“I’m good,” Chase said idly. “How’re Lily and Moira?”

“They’re good. Lily went to sleep.” Jack paused. “We got to think of something to say other than ‘good’ to describe how people are. Anyway, Schneep wanted to talk to all of us.”

“Hmm…yeah.” It was about time. The guy disappears for a month, then comes back all…different. Chase supposed he wanted to give out explanations. He sighed, and stood up. “Alright, let’s go, then.”

Chase followed Jack into the dining room. JJ and Schneep were already there, with JJ sitting at the table and Schneep hovering nearby. Jack took a seat at the table as well, but Chase hesitated. He glanced at JJ, who immediately glanced away. In all the commotion of the day, they hadn’t really had time to make up for the fight they’d had. Regret pooled in Chase’s stomach. He…he really hadn’t meant it, when he snapped that JJ never had any friends. He hadn’t meant it to be that hurtful. God, why did he have to do things like this? He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. What if he made it worse? And JJ didn’t look too good right now; he’d been sleeping most of the afternoon, ever since he apparently drained his magic. If Chase said the wrong thing now, it would be kicking him while he’s down.

“Chase, are you going to sit, or what?” Schneep snapped.

“Ak!” Chase jumped in surprise. “Alright, alright.” He took the chair across from JJ. “What about you? Are you going to sit, or just stand there?”

Schneep hummed. “No, I do not think so.”

Chase rolled his eyes. “Of course.”

You don’t have to, of course, JJ said. But I feel we should get down to business quickly. What is it you wanted to talk to us about?

There was a moment of awkward silence. Then Jack jumped in, “Hey, uh, JJ wants to know what you wanted to talk to us about.” JJ winced, apparently having forgotten that Schneep couldn’t see the signs to understand him.

“Oh. Yes, yes, well…” Schneep shrugged. “I am sure you all have questions. I thought I would give you some time to process what happened—”

Chase suddenly laughed. “Oh, you mean how you suddenly showed up and fucking killed Anti, who we’ve barely been able to hold our own against in the past?”

“Well…yes,” Schneep said.

“Yeah, I mean…” Jack jumped in, “first of all, how’d you do that, second of all, how’d you know to do that?!”

Schneep laughed, folding his arms and bouncing in place. “Well…if I am to be honest, I…am not sure.”

The other three stared back at him, then glanced at each other. “Uh…how do you not be sure about something like that?” Chase asked. “Like…I mean, I’m pretty sure you would remember figuring out how to kill a glitch monster.”

Schneep rolled his eyes. “Well, for some people, memories are not so certain, Chase. Especially after having their head fucked with by nightmares.”

Chase winced. “…sorry,” he mumbled, looking down at the surface of the table.

Jack reached over and placed his hand near Chase’s. After a moment, Chase grabbed it and squeezed his fingers tight.

“Is okay, Chase,” Schneep said, voice a bit softer. “I suppose it is part my fault for not talking about it.”

“Hey, you’re not obligated to talk about it, Hen,” Jack pointed out.

“Anyway, back to what I was saying,” Schneep said, hurriedly changing the subject. “I am sure that something happened to me, that somehow my magic—mein Gott, it still feels strange to say that—it went all over the place.”

JJ tapped on the table, then started signing. Jack, please translate to Schneep what I am saying.

“Okay,” Jack said, nodding.

Your magic is teleportation, correct? From what I understand, that is a difficult power to master.

After Jack translated, Schneep nodded, pursing his lips. “I believe it is something like that. Though it might be something more.” He finally sat down, taking the last chair at the table. “What happened…after Anti revealed himself, and we fought, something happened, and I disappeared, though I did not mean to. You all saw that, yes?” The other three made sounds of agreement. “After that, I…somehow, I…I went to…to many different places very quickly.” He seemed to be struggling to describe the events. “And it went quicker and quicker, and then I saw things.”

“You saw things?” Jack repeated, sounding a bit surprised. “But you…can’t.”

“It was not with my eyes, it was as if in my mind,” Schneep explained. “But they were still seen by me, which is why I doubt that these things were true, though they might have been. What is more unbelievable was the voice afterwards. I am starting to highly doubt that was real, but he did help me figure out how to…ah, what is the word?” He snapped his fingers a couple times. “Something like…get a…something with hands, but not exactly, it is in the word…”

Handle? JJ suggested, tapping out the word in morse code.

“Exactly!” Schneep grinned. “Get a handle on what I could do. So either that voice was real and helped, or it was my brain trying to tell me how it worked. Either way, it is the same.”

Chase raised an eyebrow. “Who could’ve done something like that? I mean…I guess they’d have to know how to teleport, how likely is that? JJ said that was hard to do.”

“It is besides the point,” Schneep dismissed. “The point is that this started me to figuring out how this magic works.”

“Okay…” Chase said slowly. “But why’d you take a month to meet up with us? Where were you?”

“It…did not seem like a month,” Schneep said. “I could’ve guessed it was a week.”

I suppose your powers could’ve…gotten out of control for three weeks, JJ said. Jack quickly translated the signs again.

“Well again, there is a possibility that none or only some of this happened,” Schneep said. “And I could have been having a breakdown and wandering the city the whole time.”

“I think we would’ve heard of that, if that was the case,” Chase muttered. “Cause I mean…we were looking out for you. We had the news on and stuff.”

“Okay, but I feel like we’re getting off track here,” Jack interrupted. “How’d you figure out how to defeat Anti?”

“Well, after everything calmed down, regardless of if it existed or not, I spent the rest of the time practicing,” Schneep said. “I was staying in my apartment—”

Chase suddenly slammed his hands on the table. “How did we think to check everywhere but there?!”

Schneep chuckled. “Is understandable. We have not been back to any of our homes in a while.”

Still, Chase shook his head, looking disappointed in himself. “Anyway, you were practicing?”

“Yes. The whole time, getting better at things like this.” The air seemed to split, and suddenly Schneep was standing in the corner. Then, only a second later, he was back in the chair. “I knew we had to find a way to get rid of Anti forever. I thought that we had done well, taking out that string that was part of him. That defeated him for a while. So I thought if we could destroy it, that would defeat him forever.”

“So…basically, you guessed that it would work,” Chase summarized.

Schneep huffed. “It was a theory. I also thought that those stitches on his neck and wrists had something to do with it, and that getting rid of those would help. Honestly, I did not think it would take that short a time.”

“Turns out that practice makes perfect,” Jack muttered. “Or…practice makes you able to fight a glitch demon.”

“Well, practice and these.” Schneep suddenly placed something on the table that he definitely had not had before. A pair of scissors. Oh the whole, they looked rather ordinary, or average size and made of a shining silver metal. The only exception was that the blades looked unusually sharp.

The other three leaned forward to look at them. “…huh,” Chase said after a while. “I mean, they don’t look that strange.”

“They are not,” Schneep said. “Except for the fact that when I thought of getting something that could cut through Anti’s strange soul string, I pulled these out of nowhere.”

That’s impossible, JJ signed.

“Why’s it impossible, Jay?” Jack asked.

You can’t conjure items out of thin air, JJ explained. They have to be either summoned from somewhere, or transformed from something else. In all my studies, that is one of the consistent rules I have found.

“Well, then, where could these have been summoned from?” Chase asked. “Schneep?”

“I do not know,” Schneep answered, brows furrowing. “I did not think too much about it. I just needed them, and they appeared.”

“Well, if your magic is teleportation based, I’m guessing you must have teleported them from somewhere,” Jack reasoned. “Though that does leave questions like, I dunno, fucking…who had them in the first place? Would that person miss them? And how did that person make them so that they could cut through weird ass soul string?”

Before the discussion could continue any further, there was a cough. At some point, Stacy had appeared in the dining room entrance. “Hey, so, two questions,” she said. “One, are all of you going to stay here for the night? And two, can you tell me now what’s going on?”

The group was silent for a bit. “Um…well, I guess we’re going to be staying here,” Chase said slowly. “I mean, the three of us are. Schneep, I dunno about you…”

Schneep nodded. “I will be, too, but do not worry about space, I can just stay on the sofa.”

“And, for the second, um…” Chase looked at the other three, vaguely distressed. What was he supposed to do? It seemed like they defeated Anti, but what if they hadn’t? He couldn’t get Stacy and the kids anymore involved! Hell, the kids had already been taken! Jack shrugged, and gave him a thumbs up, but JJ wouldn’t meet his eyes. That caused a twinge somewhere in Chase’s chest. But he turned back to Stacy without acknowledging it. “Um…I guess I could…I mean, just the basics of what happened…but, um, can we do it tomorrow?”

Stacy leveled him with a stare, then sighed. “Yeah, alright. The girls have had enough excitement as it is.” She started to leave. “I work from 7 to 3, though, so we better have that conversation in the afternoon,” she said before disappearing down the hall.

Chase let out a breath, looking down at the dining room table. His hands were shaking. He curled them into fists. Suddenly, he stood up. “I’m, um…going to bed.” Without any further explanation, he turned and also left. Jack called after him, but he didn’t look back.

He made his way into the guest bedroom, and flopped down heavily on the bed. His chest rose and fell heavily as he blinked back tears. No, he wouldn’t cry again. He’d just been crying that morning, after they got back with the kids. After they’d defeated Anti, and…

He took a deep, shuddering breath. Well…he couldn’t lie to himself. He’d been expecting to find Jackie and Marvin again, just like they had when they defeated Anti the first time. But it seemed that…killing Anti had also killed…

No, he wouldn’t cry. He’d cried enough back when they’d first found the two of them dead. And besides, none of the others were reacting so strongly. It was just him that had gotten his hopes up for getting them back.

Chase rolled over onto his side. Now facing the other side, his eyes landed on the nightstand. Its drawer was closed, but he knew what was inside it. He froze for a moment, unable to look away. Then he suddenly buried his face in the pillow. No, he couldn’t. He couldn’t.

Slowly, twilight faded into night, and Chase stayed where he was, not moving once, not even when Jack and JJ came in to check on him. A few long hours later, he finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Most people probably wouldn’t open their door if someone knocked on it in the middle of the night. They might be asleep, and if they weren’t expecting anyone, why risk it? Luckily, he knew that the person in this particular town house would be awake. Or…he did know that, right? Or was he thinking of someone else? He thought he knew this person, but things were…things felt disconnected, not quite there. Nonetheless, he’d been wandering most of the day, and he could remember it being dangerous to be out in the city at night. He needed to get somewhere safe, and this address came to mind.

When there was no answer, he knocked on the door again, pounding on the wood. Putting just a little more force into the motion suddenly made him dizzy, and he leaned heavily against the doorframe as his head swirled.

Some time later, there was the sound of footsteps behind the door, and he realized that at some point a light had turned on inside, and could be seen through the window. When had that happened? A few moments later, and he heard the sound of the door unlocking. It opened outward. He stepped back to avoid the swinging door, and saw that there was now a black-haired man standing in the doorway, wearing a loose t-shirt and pajama pants. The man’s eyes were impossibly wide. “Wh…” He seemed at a loss for words. “How…? What…? Is this…some kind of joke?”

He opened his mouth to answer, but instead, suddenly lost all feeling in his legs and fell forward.

“Whoa!” The other man caught him just in time. “Shit, I…hang on.” He managed to lift him into his arms, awkwardly closing the door and bringing him into the house. Speaking of the house, the layout seemed…familiar. He’d been here before, hadn’t he? Because he wasn’t surprised at all when the man carried him into a nearby living room and set him down on a black couch. “Shit…” The dark-haired man backed up. “You, uh…need anything? Water? Medical attention? Also, please tell me if you’re actually here and actually are who I think you are.”

“Hmm…” He blinked slowly at the room. Yes, he’s been here before. He recognized the homemade paintings on the wall and the armchair that stood out due to its bright pattern of colorful spots. He tried to sit up, but his head was still spinning, so he decided to lay back down.

“Uh…can you talk?” The dark-haired man was hovering nearby, and he was sure that he knew him. “I have a text-to-speech app on my phone, if that’d help.”

“I…know you…” He finally managed to say. “I do.”

“Um…yeah, if you are who I think you are, I knew you, too,” the man said, shifting his weight where he stood. “Well…‘knew’ is the operative word here, ‘cause…aren’t you…you’re supposed to be…” He seemed hesitant to say it.

Suddenly, something clicked into place. He sat up straight, only to lean heavily against the back of the sofa. “Malcolm,” he said. “That’s your name, I know it. It sounds like…my name? No, not my name. The other name?” He blinked slowly. “It’s definitely not my name.”

“No,” the man—Malcolm said slowly. “Your name—if you’re actually who I’m seeing right now, your name is Jackie.”

Another click as a piece fitted neatly into the bigger picture. “Yeah…yeah, that’s me.” Jackie nodded, slowly at first, then faster. “Yeah, I’m exactly who you’re seeing right now.”

“Oh. Okay. Yeah.” Malcolm nodded as well. “On one hand, that’s good, ‘cause it means I’m not seeing things. On the other hand…okay, no more beating around it, how the fuck are you alive?!”

“Ummmm…” Jackie shook his head. “I don’t…know. Did I die?”

“I mean, as far as everyone knew, yeah!” Malcolm stepped back, running his hands through his hair. “God, I went to your funeral. We fucking cremated you—”

“Oh, I did want that, didn’t I?” Jackie said idly, vaguely remembering a conversation that he had with someone about things like that.

“—I mean, was that not you?” Malcolm continued. “Was this some plot? I fucking—oh yeah, and then they investigated the scene and found that vigilante suit, what the fuck about that? Did anyone else know about that, or did you just not tell me?”

“Oh. Oh, you do the, um…” Jackie snapped his fingers a couple of times, scrambling to find the right piece of memory. “You do the police things. You’re a cop.”

“Oh no, I am a detective, you know that,” Malcolm emphasized. “There’s a difference.”

“Anyway, I don’t…think anyone else knew about that…?” Jackie said slowly. “No, the other one did. The other, the other…we lived together, he had to know, but I’m pretty sure he told the, uh…the doctor one, the nightmare one.”

Malcolm stared at him. He slowly walked over to the spotted armchair, sitting down heavily and leaning forward. “…Jackie,” he said. “So it is you. But you’re…you seem confused. Is everything alright?”

Jackie considered this. “I think so,” he said.

“Really? ‘Cause you seem to be having, um.” Malcolm pursed his lips. “Some memory problems. And the last time I saw you, you were dead, with no obvious cause of death but very clearly dead, and it looked like you kind of…well, killed your roommate. Whose name you also seem to have forgotten. You do know this isn’t normal, right?”

“Yeah.” Jackie laid down again, staring up at the ceiling. “I…something happened. How…how long ago was this thing you’re talking about?”

“Um, about two and a half years, now,” Malcolm said. “The department could never figure it out, though.” Jackie gave him a look, and he continued. “Y’know, it looked like some occult shit, there was a circle on the ground with candles, and both of you were dead, and you were holding a knife.”

“I remember that,” Jackie said, pressing a hand to his head. “It was…I-I still can’t remember the name, the other one, he—he tricked me, I lost my temper, I—something happened. I wanted to stop it…I think. I was the one with the knife? Then I must’ve been the one who wanted to stop it, I know it was one of us. Which means I’m the one that—well, I mean, I remember not meaning to, the other one, he moved at the wrong moment. I-I…I need to…fuck.”

Malcolm suddenly stifled a laugh. “You need to fuck?”

“What? No!” Jackie looked over at him. “I’m not the one who feels—no, wait, I am. I think. What’s the one with the, um…the pink, yellow, and blue? That one’s me, the other one’s the purple and black and white one, I don’t remember what they mean, though…”

“Um…okay, sorry I brought that up.” Malcolm glanced over at the room’s entrance. “God, Benjamin might come down to ask what’s going on.”

“That’s your…roommate,” Jackie said slowly. “Right?”

“Right.” Malcolm paused. “So…it’s clear that you don’t have any idea what happened. Or if you do, you’re not in a state to puzzle it out. So do you need anything? Do you have a place to stay for the night?”

“Oh. I thought I would stay here.” Jackie nodded. “Yeah, I…I remember it seemed like a good place to stay.”

“Really?” Malcolm asked. “I mean, I’m flattered, but…I mean, we’re not that…Can’t you stay with your Jack friend? Or the other ones, what is it, Henry and Chase—”

“Chase.” Jackie suddenly lurched, clutching his wrist. The force of the movement caused him to fall off the couch onto the floor. Malcolm cried out, and rushed over, but Jackie didn’t acknowledge him. “Chase, Chase, the hat one, Chase. We need him. He should be with us. Chase, Chase, puppet. Our pup̕pe͞t̶.”

Malcolm was taken aback for a moment, but he quickly moved on. “Okay, I’m sure we can call him or something in the morning. I don’t know his number, but you probably do, if you can remember it. Are you okay with me touching you, right now?” He waited for a response, but Jackie just kept mumbling, so he slowly reached out. When Jackie didn’t react, he helped him into a sitting position. “Okay. Jackie, how do you feel? Can you tell me?” No response. “Alright. That’s alright, if you can’t talk. Can you give me anything? Nodding? Can you blink twice if you can hear me? No? Alright, that’s fine, Jackie. I’m going to help you onto the couch, okay? There we go. I’m going to be right here, okay?”

Jackie still didn’t react at all, continuing to talk to himself, like he expected someone else to answer. Someone else who, up until recently, had always been there. But was now gone. Or was he the one who was gone? Had they separated, or had he split in half? Either way, he felt the absence keenly. Part of him was missing. Or he was the missing part. Or both. The pieces wouldn’t settle.

* * *

On the other side of the city, while Jackie and Malcolm were having their exchange, something very similar was going on with two others. It was happening inside a small shop that looked like a defunct clothing store, but once inside, turned out to be much more than that. The interior was cluttered with tables and shelves, piled high with books and knickknacks. Behind the shop’s counter, there were two open doors, one of which was ajar and revealing a small bathroom. And looking through the open door, you could see a man and a woman. The man was leaning over the sink, coughing, while the woman rubbed circles on his back.

“There, there…” The woman said awkwardly. She was dressed in a holographic vest and a skater skirt, her hair dyed blue and purple, and she also looked very confused and unsure. “Just…yeah.”

The man coughed again, and a spatter of red flew from his mouth, joining the pool gathering in the bottom of the ceramic sink. “Nnn…” he said.

“Jesus christ,” the woman muttered. “What happened to you? Besides, um, dying.”

“I died?” The man asked vaguely. He coughed again, staining his lips and teeth crimson.

“I mean, yeah. We buried you. Under that tree like you said.”

“Good…” The man mumbled. “That’s…” He didn’t continue, slumping against the sink.

“Whoa, hang on, there,” the woman said, catching him before his head smacked against the faucet.

“Don’ touch me…” The man waved her away, taking a few steps before falling against the counter.

“Jesus.” The woman crouched by him. “Look, what happened?”

“I…don’t…” He shook his head.

The woman paused. “Do you know who I am?”

It took him a moment to answer. “…Eve, right? No. No, that’s…that’s only part of it. It’s like…spelled weird.”

“Starts with a Y,” she prompted.

After another moment, he suddenly straightened. “Yvonne. That’s…that’s you.”

“Yeah.” Yvonne smiled. “Do you know who you are?”

There was no answer this time. Unless you counted the tears that suddenly sprung to his eyes.

“Okay, it’s fine, you don’t need to answer right now.” Yvonne paused. “I’m guessing you don’t know what happened to you, then, so I guess it’s no use asking.”

“You said I died,” he said. “I…I remember that. The other one, he…he wanted to kill me. He did. It…it hurt.” He reached up to his neck. There was a slight red cut across this throat, no blood leaking out.

“It must’ve,” Yvonne said sympathetically. “I…well, if that happened for sure, I…” She hesitated, then blurted out the rest. “I can only conclude necromancy, but you’re too solid to be a spirit, and after two years, you’re too…there would’ve been some sign of decay, if you were brought back the other way.”

“Haha, my good looks.” He smiled a bit, the effect ruined by the blood on his teeth.

“Yeah, um, right.” Yvonne glanced towards the bathroom door. “Look, are you good now? I mean, there’s probably a whole trail from you throwing up blood all the way in here that I need to take care of. And as for you, uh…probably not a good idea to be in the bathroom if you’re gonna pass out or something.”

“Hmm…” He stood up, then started to list to the side. Yvonne caught him before he fell.

“Something’s wrong with you,” she muttered. “I mean, beyond the obvious. You feel…different.” She blinked, her eyes turning sky blue. Wisps of blue light, tinged with yellow at the ends, floated away from her fingers. “Révél e mai tamystiká oue animai,” she muttered. 

“That’s a spell,” the man mumbled. “Anim, anim…root of something. Animal? Soul. Soul spell.”

“Yeah, that’s my specialty,” Yvonne said absentmindedly. “Yours, too. God, you must’ve been real…messed…up…” She trailed off. “Marvin…your soul is…” She could only gape. There were no words for what she was sensing.

“Mar—oh, that’s me! Me!” Marvin laughed, trying to step forward but quickly losing his balance, making Yvonne catch him. He didn’t notice; he was still laughing. “Me, me, me, just one, no actually, I think two, we think two, like there are two halves, but where’s the other one? Oh, oh. Where’s the difference? We need the other one, where is he, where is me?” A few more scattered laughs fell from his mouth.

“Shit, Marv.” Yvonne shook her head. “You need—” Suddenly, she stiffened, and her head whipped back towards the bathroom door. “Someone came in.” She shifted her position to see who it was, and her eyes widened. “Shit! Marvin, stay here, stay quiet.” She slowly set him down on the bathroom floor, still giggling to himself. Then quickly, she left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Marvin leaned his head against the closed door. “Me, me, we, me, we,” he whispered to himself, a few odd tears slipping from his eyes. Was there a difference between those words? He thought there might’ve been, once. But now they’ve blurred together. They meant the same thing, didn’t they? He wasn’t sure he liked that. Where did he stop? Where did the other begin? Or were they interchangeable? He definitely didn’t like how he didn’t know the answer to any of these questions.

There were voices coming from the other side of the door. He recognized Yvonne: “Ah, Mae, it’s a bit late for a raid, isn’t it? I tell you, this business has come clean.”

“We’d be fools to believe you at face value, Bell,” said another voice, one of an older woman. “But this isn’t us coming in to check on the legality of your wares.”

“Oh?” Yvonne sounded amused and confused.

“The Magi has done some poking around,” said the voice of Mae. “Set off by something I witnessed myself. Someone teleported directly into our library, disregarding all our shielding. This started an investigation, and after some searching, we have detected an oddly high amount of soul magic in this city.”

“Oh. Well, that’s…weird,” Yvonne said. “This someone must’ve been pretty powerful, to teleport directly there.”

“That’s besides the point,” Mae dismissed. “The soul magic is why we’re here. You are the only soul-based magician currently in the city.”

“Really?” Yvonne said, feigning intrigue. “I could’ve sworn there was another. I think he was some kind of stage magician?”

“Marvin Moore has been dead for over two years, leaving only you behind,” Mae said firmly. “And you have a record of disregarding ABIM laws.”

“I did, but I’ve turned over a new leaf,” Yvonne said. Her voice suddenly became serious. “I…learned about the results of my actions the hard way.”

“Nevertheless, this is a preliminary inspection,” Mae said. “We’re searching your shop, your storage, and your living area.”

“By all means, feel free.” Footsteps. “But if you’ll excuse me, I was just about to use the bathroom, so please.”

“Very well.” More footsteps, heading away.

Yvonne opened the door, slipping inside the bathroom again, keeping it closed enough to block Marvin from view of the other magicians now searching her shop. “Alright, that’s that,” she said under her breath. “Marvin, what the fuck have you been doing?”

“What have we been doing?” Marvin repeated idly. “Hmm…I can’t quite…it’s all jumbled.” He sighed, and closed his eyes.

“Marvin? Marvin are you—don’t you dare pass out on me! Not while there are ABIM agents in my shop! I need you to—Marvin!”

He felt her trying to shake him, but didn’t respond, already drifting. There was something missing. He felt it keenly. Or maybe he was the something that was missing. He couldn’t tell. The pieces wouldn’t settle.

* * *

There was a place in the city where all the electric lines met. It was walled off with a high fence, barbed wire at the top, to make sure that no one would sneak in and get hurt. But the fence couldn’t stop the thing slithering across the ground, green and glowing like a radioactive snake. The thing was small enough to squeeze right through the links in the fence, though on the other side, it fell apart. It wasn’t one long, solid unit like it had initially appeared, rather a bunch of small green strings, their ends cut, all moving in unison.

The strings crawled across the gravel of the walled-off space. Here, the power lines gathered and buzzed, held high off the ground. Boxes were attached to poles, with yellow warning signs and instructions plastered on them. The strings gathered around one of these poles, snaking up and spiraling around it, heading towards the attached box.

Here, the various pieces broke apart, wiggling into the seam of the box and managing to pry it open. Once inside, they reacted with the fuses. Green electric sparks flew from the box, and soon it lit up, white-hot electricity flying outward, frying the circuits inside.

The strings fell to the ground, unharmed. And they headed to another one, repeating the same process. And once that was done, they headed to another. And another.

And once everything inside the walled area was broken and smoking, the strings headed out to another, similar part of the power grid.

Hours later, morning dawned over a city without any power at all.


	18. Tales to Tell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It appears the boys' magical activities have attracted some unwanted attention.

It was 6:45 am, and Chase had been awake for three hours. He’d been staring up at the ceiling the whole time, listening to the sound of JJ’s slight snores as he tried to get his mind to shut off. Of course, eventually, it was a lost cause, and sat up, looking around the dark room.

He’d been sharing the guest bedroom with JJ and Jack, usually spending the night on the spare air mattress with a sleeping bag. Though it appeared he’d fallen asleep on the actual bed this time. JJ had fallen asleep on the mattress instead, and Jack was nowhere to be seen. Chase couldn’t help but feel guilt curl in his stomach. Standing up, he grabbed his cap, adjusted his bandanna, which he’d apparently fallen asleep in, and quietly slipped out.

Stacy was in the kitchen (also dark, perhaps there was an issue with the power,) shoving the last dregs of cereal into her mouth. She paused for a moment, glancing towards Chase as he entered, then continued. “Uh…hey,” Chase muttered.

“Hey,” Stacy replied. She was wearing her work uniform, the simple skirt and apron that designated her as a waitress at the Dish and Glass diner. “So I have to leave literally right now.”

“Okay.”

“You remember how you promised we’d talk about everything going on with you once I got home, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And also the power’s gone out. I think it must be a problem with the city grid, cause I looked at the fuse box and it seems alright.”

“Okay.”

“…okay, then.” Stacy finished off the cereal, dropping the spoon with a clatter. She stood up, grabbing her purse and jacket from the nearby chair. Chase followed her as she went into the living room and opened the front door. Before she left, Stacy hesitated, and looked back. “You’re not…thinking about doing anything…?” She trailed off.

“Anything what?” Chase asked.

Stacy shrugged. The motion, usually so blunt and casual, seemed more hesitant than usual. “I don’t know. Just…” She sighed. “I hate to bring up old wounds, you know, but…after everything happened, with us, you just sort of…and then…never mind. Just don’t do anything…you shouldn’t.”

Chase nodded slowly. There was a small ache in his chest. “I’m not…being serious about doing anything…I shouldn’t.”

“Um…good.” Stacy nodded. “I’ll see you this afternoon.”

“See you.”

After Stacy left, Chase walked over to the nearest armchair and sat down hard. A few minutes passed. And suddenly, he laughed. “Perfect, now I’m staring at the living room ceiling instead of the bedroom ceiling. Fucking awesome. The patterns here are so much more interesting.” 

“Well you do not need to rub it in.”

“Aaak—!” Chase jumped, flailing for a bit before looking over at the sofa. Schneep was laying on it, mostly covered by a blanket. If Chase didn’t know any better, he’d think that Schneep was also staring at the ceiling. “Jesus, man, I’m sorry, didn’t see you there.”

Schneep waved away his comment. “Is fine. I did not say anything.” He fell silent for a moment. “So. I could not help but overhear you two talking.”

“Oh, uh, did we wake you up? Sorry.”

“Not you, Stacy did. She was getting ready.” Schneep turned his head towards Chase. “This is not the point. Are you…Chase, are you okay?”

“I…yeah, I’m fine. Relatively, I mean.” Chase swallowed a lump in his throat.

“Hmm.” Schneep narrowed his eyes. “You said ‘I am not being serious about doing anything I shouldn’t.’”

“Well, I’m not,” Chase protested. “I just…sometimes things happen.”

Schneep didn’t answer for a moment. The silence weighed heavy in the early morning light. “Sometimes they are just thoughts, Chase,” he finally said, almost too quiet to be heard.

Chase sighed quietly and didn’t say anything. It just felt like everything was crushing him right now. Slowly. “I said something awful to Jay before you showed up,” he said quietly.

“Really?” Schneep answered in the same quiet tone.

“I didn’t mean it. It was just…things were getting heated. A-and now I don’t…don’t know what to say to fix it. I tried to apologize. It…came out wrong.”

Schneep paused. “Perhaps you just need more time?”

Chase shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Then you just need to find the right words.”

“I don’t know how,” Chase breathed.

“Well…then it is a good thing you have other friends, yes?” Schneep asked. “If you need an impartial…judge is not the correct word, but anyway, I was not there. I could—”

The doorbell rang.

Chase jumped again, then couldn’t help but chuckle. “Oh my god, the _worst_ timing.” Sighing, he leaned back into chairs. “Probably sales people or something.”

“Ach.” Schneep scowled. “Ignore them. Always trying to sell you things.”

A smile pulled at the corner of Chase’s mouth. “Yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s what sales people do.”

Another ring, followed by a few knocks. “Persistent, whoever they are,” Schneep commented.

“Yeah.” Chase stood up. He was pretty sure that sales people waited at least a few minutes before ringing the doorbell again. He was pretty sure that most people did. “I’ll check it out.” Sighing, he walked up to the door and cracked it open.

An older woman in a neat navy-blue suit was standing at the door, dark hair swept to the back in a braid. She looked very out of place in the family-oriented suburb Stacy’s house was located in. “Hello, my name is Delyth Mae, I’m from the Department of Safety on the local City Council,” she said smoothly.

Chase blinked. “Uh…hi.”

Delyth nodded. “I’m out here with a team. It seems there have been some unusual radiation readings in this neighborhood.”

“…uh-huh.” Chase didn’t know what else to say. He was well aware that most people would’ve been at least a little concerned, but he’d been through worse. At least radiation wasn’t going to kill you right away. Or make you kill other people. Or—

“Ah, well.” Delyth seemed a bit…uncomfortable with Chase’s odd reaction. No, it wasn’t quite uncomfortable. Concerned? Maybe. Interested? Yes, in some way. “Anyway, we’ve traced these readings to this house. May my team and I come inside to see what the problem is?”

“Um…” Chase caught movement in the corner of his eye. He glanced over to see Schneep, now standing up, eyes narrowed and facing the door. “One second,” Chase said, closing the door before Delyth could protest. “What’s wrong?” He asked Schneep.

“I…she feels…different,” Schneep said slowly.

Chase blinked. “‘Feels different’ in the way that you couldn’t feel Jackie or Marvin and they turned out to be…?”

“I suppose.” Schneep folded her arms. “Well, I can feel her, but it is different. It is…spicy.”

Chase stifled a laugh, turning it into an awkward snort. “Spicy?”

“It is the best I can do, okay?” Schneep snapped. “Is…scharf, it verbrennt deine Nase.”

“Why are you talking about noses?”

“Look, do not let her in, okay?” Schneep headed to the hall. “I will wake up the others, I think they must know.”

“Uh, okay.” Chase opened the door again. Delyth Mae was standing there, looking over her shoulder. It was then that Chase noticed the unfamiliar gray van parked on the side of the street. There was a logo on it that read “Department of Safety,” but for some reason, that didn’t reassure him. He’d never heard of the Department of Safety before. “So…” he said, and Delyth immediately turned back to look at him. “This is, uh…actually my ex’s house. And I just remembered, she left for work a few minutes ago. I don’t really want to let anyone inside without her here, you know?”

“That’s very understandable, sir,” Delyth nodded. “But this will only take a few moments, and it really is in the best interest of her, and you.”

“Yeah, uh…can you come back this afternoon? She’ll be back after three.”

Delyth went silent, eyes darting around Chase to try and catch a glimpse of the inside of the house. Then she smiled. “Very well, sir. But if I may ask, may one of my team members take reading from this threshold?”

“You mean, like, on the step?” Chase considered this briefly. That couldn’t really do anything, could it? “Sure, I guess.”

“Excellent.” Delyth turned and waved at the van. Its passenger side door opened, and a younger man, dressed neatly but not as formally as a suit, stepped out and rushed up to the doorway.

“Hi,” Chase said idly. “I’m just gonna, uh, stand here while you…” he trailed off. The young man’s eyes were yellow. No, they weren’t just yellow, they were _glowing._ How were they glowing? That was odd, but it was…oddly pretty…

The effect was almost instant. Chase found himself relaxing, almost falling over. It was like being wrapped in a warm, familiar blanket.

“Man, that was easy. Barely did anything.”

“Yes yes, can we go inside now?”

“Hey. Let us in.”

Chase stood aside, pushing the door open. A moment later, Delyth walked inside, followed by the man with the glowing yellow eyes and, a few minutes later, another young lady who looked quite similar to the other man. Chase blinked. What…just hap—

He screamed.

The three strangers stopped in their tracks, spinning around to look at him. “What—?” Delyth couldn’t even finish the question, watching in disbelief as Chase suddenly sank to the floor, pressing his hands to his neck and hyperventilating.

“Oh my god, Tavish, what did you do?!” The young woman said.

“I don’t know! Nobody’s ever reacted like that before!” The young man protested.

“Enough!” Delyth snapped. “You two, go search the place! I’ll deal with this.” The other two nodded, and disappeared further into the house while Delyth kneeled next to Chase. “Sir, I understand this is probably overwhelming, but—”

Chase’s hand suddenly shot out and grabbed her jacket, yanking her close. “What the fuck are you?!” He shouted, blinking back sudden tears. “Why are you here? Can’t we have one fucking place that’s safe?!”

“Sir.” Delyth remained remarkably calm, carefully pulling her suit fabric out of Chase’s fist. “It’s okay, we mean no harm. We’re magicians.”

Everything froze for a moment, Chase’s whirling thoughts grinding to a sudden halt. Then he started to laugh. “Ohhh of fucking course! Of course of course of course—” Any recognizable words disappeared into hysterical gasping.

“I understand it’s a lot to take in,” Delyth said evenly. “And I do apologize for making Monroe put you under suggestion. But this is an urgent matter. We’ve been tracking an unusual—sir, please remember to breathe. Evenly. Count the seconds if you must.” She reached out to put her hands on Chase’s shoulder, and he slapped her arms away. “Alright, then. Even breaths, sir.”

Chase ducked his head, pulling up his knees so he could hide his face. His shoulders shook with the effort to control his breathing. It was just—magicians. How did none of them ever think of magicians? Of course if Marvin and Jackie could do magic, then other people would be able to, as well. They weren’t special. JJ had tons of magic books, too. Where _else_ would he have gotten them except from magicians? After a few more seconds, Chase looked up at Delyth, who was waiting patiently. “What,” he hissed, “do you want?”

“We’ve been tracking an unusual magical signature for the past two weeks or so,” Delyth explained. “It has been wandering around, but we did a more in-depth scan last night and found that it’s now stopped here.”

“An unusual…?” Chase repeated, mumbling. Well, he could think of at least six things that could be referring to.

A loud _THUD!_ came from down the hall.

Delyth’s head snapped towards the sound. She immediately stood up and ran towards it. Chase sat, puzzled for a moment, until it hit him like a bucket of cold water: _the others._ He scrambled to his feet and ran after her.

The door to the guest bedroom was flung open wide, a blue glow emitting from the doorway. Chase and Delyth ran inside, both stopping soon after. The two young magicians were facing Jack, Schneep, and JJ, who were pressed against the wall. The magicians’ eyes were glowing, and the woman had her hand extended, holding a long, white…wand, that was the only word for it. Flakes of ice blue magic drifted around it. A bright blue circle was shielding the other three, curving around them. JJ had his hands extended as well, clearly holding the shield in place. His mask was missing and his hair and clothes were a mess, but he wasn’t faltering. Schneep stood next to him, holding his scissors like he was ready to stab with them at any moment, his scleras strangely black. Jack was behind the two of them, and the first to notice when Chase and Delyth entering. “Chase!” he yelled. “What’s going on?!”

“Uhh I wish I knew,” Chase said. “These guys are like…magicians.”

“Yes, we are magicians,” Delyth repeated absentmindedly. “Nairne, what happened? I heard a noise.”

The young woman—Nairne, apparently—gestured with her head towards the bed. The nightstand had been knocked over and thrown a foot away. Pale blue magic was spreading like frost along the wall and floor. “We heard talking in here, and when we came to check it out, this crazy guy attacked us!”

“Excuse me, you threw that magic at us _before_ I pushed you!” Schneep spoke up, protesting.

The young man—Tavish—scoffed. “Oh hell no, we just walked in and you flipped out!”

“I did not make it physical!”

“Everyone calm down!” Delyth shouted. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Tavish, can you run the seek again?”

Tavish nodded, eyes flashing yellow once before he closed them, muttering words under his breath. After a moment, he pointed at Schneep. “It’s coming from him.” He then moved a bit to point at Jack. “He kind of has a signature, too, but it’s a lot different, and weaker.”

“Wait, what?” Jack said. “Signature?”

Delyth nodded, like she was expecting this. “You two give off distinct magical signatures. We’ve been trying to pin down this one for a while.”

Jack laughed. “Oh yeah, _we_ have magic fingerprints, not the guy holding up the shield, that makes sense.” He glanced at JJ, who shrugged.

“No, the warlock has one, too,” Tavish said. “But it’s not what we were looking for.”

“Hey, uh, don’t take this the wrong way,” Chase jumped in. “But I really don’t like having this discussion while that lady is pointing her magic wand at my friends.”

Nairne shot Chase a nasty glare. “Well I don’t like putting my wand down while your friend is trying to stab me with scissors.”

“I was not going to stab you!” Schneep protested. “Not unless I had to!”

“Alright, look.” Delyth’s eyes flashed purple, and she stomped her foot. The ground shook, and Nairne and Schneep dropped their things. “There. We’re all even, can we discuss this civilly?”

JJ nodded, and lowered the shield. He looked around at his friends. _I think this has been a misunderstanding,_ he said. _They might work for the ABIM. I’ve never met anyone from them, but I know they mean well._

“Um…” Tavish coughed awkwardly. “Sorry, are you deaf?”

“I think the signing has something to do with the…situation going on with his mouth,” Nairne muttered.

“Ah yes, the… _stitch_ -uation,” Tavish chuckled.

Everyone else winced. JJ glared at him. _Of course, that doesn’t stop them from being insensitive pricks._ He finished off the statement with a gesture that you didn’t need to know sign to grasp the meaning of.

“Hey!” Tavish protested.

“Bit of a dick move there, dick,” Nairne said.

“Completely unprofessional,” Delyth said, leveling Tavish with a glare. “Do you want another citation?”

“No!” Tavish rushed to say. “No, not—” He turned to Jameson. “I-I’m sorry.”

JJ didn’t say anything, just folded his arms.

“Ummm anyway,” Jack said, walking around to stand beside JJ instead of behind him. “What was that you were saying? Those letters…ABIM?”

“The Association of British and Irish Magicians,” Delyth said coolly. “Yes, we represent them. For the past two weeks, we’ve been tracking down a strange magical signature.”

“She said that earlier,” Chase said, edging around the magicians to go stand with the other three. 

“This investigation was spurred because someone teleported into the midst of our library, which is warded strongly, and should prevent any teleportation.” Delyth’s eyes ran over the group of four. “I was there. I saw someone appear, then almost immediately disappear. Though I did not get a good look, I do think it was one of you.”

“It was me,” Schneep said, raising his hand. “Thank you, now I know that _that_ really happened. Was my back to you? Otherwise I am sure you would remember the scars.”

“Yes, it was just the back, but I recognize your hair. Vaguely.” Delyth clasped her hands together. “Tavish here, though his _attitude_ is something to be said, is one of our best trackers. We’ve been following your signature for a long time.”

“Look.” Schneep stepped forward, in front of the other three. “If I did something wrong, I did not know that I did. I…was still getting used to my abilities. They were going hay-wired. I apologize if I troubled you, but do not bring the others into this.”

Delyth said nothing. Tavish and Nairne stared at her, waiting for a response. Then, slowly, she nodded. “I see. So you don’t know.”

Schneep paused. “Know what?”

“There is an…oddly high amount of soul magic in the city,” Delyth stated.

There was another small pause. “Okay…?” Jack said. “Is that a problem?”

“It is…strange.” Delyth said slowly. “There is only one soul magician in Mirygale, and she has nothing to do with this.” 

JJ’s eyes widened. He turned to the others. _Soul magic is very rare. It’s a talent you either have to be born with, or have accumulated throughout years of practice. So if there is a strangely high amount of rare soul magic in one given place, it may be cause for concern._

“Um…” Nairne shifted on her feet. “Can we…can someone…?”

“JJ just explained that soul magic is rare,” Chase summarized.

“It is,” Delyth agreed. “And you two—” She pointed at Schneep and Jack. “—are giving off soul-based magical signatures.”

“How can something be soul-based?” Jack asked. “Doesn’t everyone have a soul?”

“Yeah, but not everyone has the right kind of magic that can mess with souls,” Tavish said. “It’s very distinct.”

“So you can understand why we’d want to figure out what’s going on,” Delyth said. “But it seems none of you know anything.”

Chase, Jack, and Schneep muttered in agreement, but JJ looked thoughtful. Jack _, can you translate this question?_ He asked. _Can you ask them if a transference spell is soul-based?_

“Oh, uh, sure,” Jack said. “JJ just asked if a transference spell is soul-based.”

The three magicians went very still. “How do you know about that?” Delyth asked in a low voice.

“Uh…it’s a long story,” Jack said. “Why, is it…bad?”

“That is very dark magic,” Nairne muttered, glancing back at the other two.

“Something’s off about them,” Tavish said. “We should take them in!”

Suddenly Schneep was holding his scissors again. “Go ahead and try.”

“Hey, let’s not fight, how about?” Chase said, raising his voice. “I wasn’t lying about this being my ex’s house, and she won’t be happy to come back to it trashed. And the girls are still asleep—”

“Are there children in this house?!” Delyth suddenly asked, looking around.

“Yeah, two of them,” Chase said. “I’m assuming they’re still asleep, I might be wrong.”

While Delyth and Chase were talking, Nairne and Tavish exchanged a look. Tavish raised an eyebrow, and Nairne nodded. Nobody else noticed except for JJ, whose eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Nairne suddenly flung her hand outward, sending a spray of white-blue magic outward. JJ was already moving, conjuring up his shield a second time. The magic bounced off it, attaching itself to the walls on either side and and spreading.

“Hey!” Schneep’s head whipped toward Nairne. “That is cheating!”

“Guess you won’t like this either, then,” Tavish muttered, and made a throwing motion at the shield. A ball of yellow light attached itself to the bright blue glow. JJ barely had time to glance at it before the ball suddenly exploded outwards, shattering the shield and sending the four flying.

“What are you doing?!” Delyth’s composure snapped as she yelled at the other magicians.

Nairne bent over and scooped up her wand. “They’re suspicious as fuck, so we’re taking them in! That’s part of the _regulations,_ Mae.”

Schneep suddenly appeared behind Nairne, scissors open wide and held very close to her throat. “You have shitty regulations, then.”

Tavish glanced over at Nairne, then elected to throw another ball of magic towards Jack and Chase. JJ intercepted it, catching the ball in a net of blue magic, which wrapped around it in a sphere and absorbed the explosion. Chase looked away from the flash of yellow, and notices that in the commotion, something fell out of the nightstand drawer. He lunged forward and grabbed the gun by the handle. “Can we all just calm down?!” Jack shouted.

Nairne pointed her wand over her shoulder, a bolt of icy magic shooting out from it and hitting Schneep in the face. He gasped and stumbled backwards, wiping the magic away. Tavish chuckled, and threw another ball over at Nairne and Schneep. Nairne dived away, but Schneep got caught in the blast. He flew through the air and hit the wall hard.

“Enough!” Delyth shouted, eyes starting to glow purple.

Schneep got to his feet. “Yes, enough!” His eyes flashed turquoise, and the world shifted.

The ground seemed to tilt, the air wavering and warping, blurring the surroundings. Chase, in the middle of standing up, fell back to his knees and covered his hand with his mouth. JJ staggered, arms pinwheeling. Jack squeezed his eyes shut.

And suddenly, the four of them weren’t in the house anymore. Instead, they found themselves in the living room of an apartment, one that was familiar to all of them, even though the room was dim, lit only by morning sunlight coming through the windows. Jack opened his eyes. “Schneep…did you somehow take us to your place?”

“Yes,” Schneep said plainly. He was unaffected by the journey.

JJ leaned against the back of the nearest sofa, looking around. _Seems not much has changed,_ he said. 

Schneep nodded. “I try to keep it in order.”

Chase scrambled to his feet. “What the fuck, dude?! My kids are still there! With the crazy magicians!”

“I…ah.” Schneep coughed. “I did not think of that.”

“Chase, it’s okay,” Jack said, standing up. “You saw the way that…leader lady reacted to hearing the kids were in the house. She won’t involve them.”

“It’s not so much her that I’m worried about as the two other assholes,” Chase snapped.

 _They_ were _remarkably rude,_ JJ signed, frowning.

“Ah…does anyone want something to eat?” Schneep hurriedly said. “I have been stocking the kitchen cabinets.”

Chase sighed, and collapsed on the room’s armchair. “Yeah…fine. I just…” He rubbed his face. “God, Stacy’s gonna be so pissed when she gets back.”

 _Can she call you?_ JJ asked. _Do you have your phone?_

“Uh…” Chase checked his jean pockets, then his hoodie pocket. “Oh, yeah.” He pulled out his phone, turning on the screen. “It’s kinda low, though. I never got around to charging it last night.”

“Your phone?” Schneep asked.

“Fuck, I mean, yeah, Doc,” Chase said. “JJ asked me if I had my phone.”

Schneep nodded. “I am now assuming that any pause you have is JJ speaking.”

“That’s fair.”

“Hey, can we talk about what just happened?” Jack piped up. “Some magicians showed up, telling us that wow, not only is magic real, but there’s a whole magic community with apparently some sort of fucking…I don’t know, government, then they call JJ a warlock, tell us Schneep and I have unique fucking signatures or something, and attack us?”

“I think they were trying to, like, arrest us,” Chase said. “That guy, he had…mind…” He paused, distress flashing across his face for less than a second. “I mean, uh, mines. Like, magic mines. Maybe it was a knockout…thing.”

Jack gave Chase a peculiar, but sympathetic, look, then moved on. “Maybe. Apparently we were suspicious, I dunno.”

“I think the suspicious part was that we knew what this…transference is,” Schneep muttered. He walked over to the edge of the room just so he could lean against the wall.

 _They said it was very dark magic,_ JJ said. _Which does check out with what we know about it._

Jack quickly translated the signs for Schneep, then added, “Okay, but that’s no reason to immediately attack.”

“There is also a high amount of soul magic in the city,” Schneep recalled. “Which is unusual, yes? Perhaps they thought we were behind it?”

Chase sighed. “We’re not. But…maybe we know who is.”

Silence fell over the group, echoing with memories. “But…Anti is…gone now,” Jack said hesitantly. “So maybe the soul magic will…I don’t know, fade back to normal levels. And they’ll leave us alone.”

“Maybe,” Schneep muttered. He straightened. “Well, my offer of food still stands. Who will come to the kitchen with me?”

“Let’s just all go,” Jack said.

 _That sounds good,_ JJ agreed.

Chase looked down at his phone again. “You guys go ahead. I think I’ll…I might call Stacy, try to explain what just happened.”

“Alright. We’ll get you chips or something,” Jack said.

The three of them disappeared through a side door, leaving Chase sitting there. He opened up his contacts, then hesitated. Yeah…he should tell her. He should. Just in case.

* * *

Stacy was taking her first fifteen-minute break in the back room of the diner when her phone started ringing. She huffed quietly. The ringing had interrupted the mindless scrolling through Instagram that she’d been using to try to relax. She didn’t recognize the number, so she hung up. And then it called again. And once she hung up again, it called. Sighing quietly, she picked up the call, figuring the person was going to keep trying. “Hello?”

“Hi, um, I’m looking for Chase?” An unfamiliar man’s voice asked.

“You have the wrong number,” Stacy said coolly.

“What? Really?” The man said, surprised. “That’s…weird. Uh, do you know Chase Brody?”

“He’s my ex.”

“Oh fuck. Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Stacy was starting to relax a bit. A spam call probably wouldn’t use such casual language. “Uh, if you want I can tell him you called.”

“Well, he doesn’t know me,” the man said. “I’m a friend of a friend.”

And Stacy was once again suspicious. “How’d you get this number?”

“Through that friend,” the man explained. “I asked him to give me Chase’s number so I could call him for him, but I guess he just remembered yours. That’s…a bit weird.”

“Very weird,” Stacy agreed. “What friend wanted you to call him?”

“What friend wanted me to call Chase?”

“Yeah.”

There was a slight pause, then a sigh. “This is going to sound insane,” the man said. “Anyway, I thought the friend was dead, we kinda all did, but apparently he’s here, and he really, _really_ wants to find Chase but can’t remember his address, or apparently his phone number.” He paused. “The friend’s name is Jackie.”

Stacy was frozen for a moment. Jackie? The Jackie that they’d gone to the funeral of, where Chase has cried the whole time? “Is this a fucking prank?!” She suddenly snapped. “Cause it’s not funny to make—”

“No no no, I promise, it’s not a prank, I have just as much idea what’s going on as you do,” the man hurried to say. “I thought Jackie was dead, but no, he’s…he’s _right here_. I’m literally staring at him. And he wants to meet up with Chase.”

Stacy sighed deeply. This was going to be more of that bullshit Chase and his friends were getting caught up in, huh? The bullshit that they still wouldn’t tell her about? “Okay, I’ll tell Chase you called, tell him to…check on you or something, I dunno.”

“That would be great,” the man said. “Oh, uh, my name’s Malcolm. Malcolm Akela, you should be able to find my address online or in a phone book or something. Just in case you need something.”

“Uh-huh.” Stacy glanced at the clock. Her break was almost up. “Well, look, I gotta go, but I’ll tell Chase…all this.”

“Thanks.”

The call ended. Immediately, her phone started ringing again, this time with a familiar number. Stacy sighed, then picked up. “What is it, Chase?”

* * *

Halfway across the city, in a small apartment above a shop, a magician was looking for a flashlight in a dark bedroom. Yvonne silently cursed the strange power outage. She’d use her magic to light up her surroundings, but she needed to save it. After a bit of fumbling in a drawer, she found it. “Aha! Torch!” She flicked it on. “Let there be light.” Chuckling, she left the room and headed into the living room.

Marvin was sitting on her sofa. It wasn’t a sight she ever expected to see again, but here he was. He looked a bit distant, and had bandages wrapped around the cut on his throat, but was otherwise alright…and alive. 

“Alright, here we are.” Yvonne shined the flashlight around the room, briefly flicking a nearby lamp switch to see if anything had changed. Nope. The power was still out. “How are you doing, Marv?”

“Hmm?” Marvin looked up at her.

“How are you doing?” Yvonne repeated. “Like…good, bad, whatever. You know? How do you feel?”

Marvin blinked. “I feel…we’re…not…where’s the other one?”

“Still don’t know what you’re talking about,” Yvonne muttered. “But look, I found something for you.” She crossed the room, making sure she didn’t trip over anything in the dark, until she was standing in front of Marvin. “Look! This thing!” She held up the object she’d found in her closet.

Marvin’s reaction was delayed a bit, but once it registered, he gasped. “Oh!” He reached out and took the mask from Yvonne. It was white, a few designs painted on the surface, most notably the four card suits arranged in a diamond on the forehead. He traced the outline of it, running his fingers over the ceramic. “This…this is mine. Just mine.”

“Yeah, it’s yours.” Yvonne cleared her throat awkwardly. “I’m uh…sorry I could never give it back.”

“Back…?” Marvin turned the mask over, now playing with the black ribbons that would hold the mask on his face. “I…gave it to you. You wanted…to copy it?”

“No, not exactly. I just…well you know, magically-enhanced ceramic, hard to come by. I always said it was an accident waiting to happen, if a spell backfired it could do some serious damage to your face, but you were so confident in the spell, that I just…had to see…” Yvonne trailed off. “Of course, while you were here dropping it off, I…did you…copy a spell from one of my books?”

“Mmm…” Marvin’s eyes clouded over, losing focus. “Spell, spell…spell on loose paper…spells in type…lots of spells…”

Yvonne sighed. “Never mind. Let’s just get this started.” She backed up, rounding around a coffee table, putting the flashlight down on its surface. There was a peculiar looking instrument on the table. It was mainly a giant lens, its diameter larger than a basketball. “Stay still, okay?” Yvonne said, positioning the lens so it was facing Marvin.

He nodded vaguely, still running his hands over the mask, holding it to his chest. “Just mine…” he said, voice barely audible. “Not the other one…not the…”

“It’s your mask, yes,” Yvonne said absentmindedly. She ran her hands along the edge of the lens, the silver frame holding it becoming alight with blue and hints of yellow. As she did so, she stifled a yawn. She’d been up all night, trying to figure out what the deal was with Marvin. The Soul Lens had only occurred to her a few minutes ago. She began chanting some words, causing the Soul Lens to start glowing with white light. Trails of blue and yellow magic dripped over the glass, swirling iridescently like the surface of a bubble. Until it suddenly cleared. Yvonne bent over, peering through the Lens.

Through the Lens, everything had lost its color, being seen in shades of gray. The room was still dark, except for a light coming from Marvin. She stared intently at it, eyes wide. After a few silent moments, the Lens powered down, and she straightened, shaking her head. “Marvin…” she said in a hushed tone. “I was right. Your soul is _broken._ ” That was the only word she could think to describe the fragmented way the light had appeared. Also, the Lens couldn’t show it, but she’d detected something…foreign…when she’d first sensed his soul. “What the fuck were you doing?”

Marvin didn’t answer, closing his eyes and leaning back against the sofa.

“Jesus…” Yvonne shook her head in disbelief. This was way, _way_ beyond her knowledge. What was she supposed to do next? She couldn’t go to ABIM, they didn’t trust her and she didn’t trust them. Was it possible there was something in her storage that could help?

She was so lost in thought that it took her a moment to realize there was something glowing outside her window.

Marvin noticed it first, sitting up straight and twisting his head to the side to look at it. He gasped, and started to laugh.

“Marvin, what— _what the fuck is that?!_ ” Yvonne ran over to the window. For a second, her first insane thought was that magic worms were trying to get inside. But no, as she got closer she realized it was string. Green glowing string, cut into various sizes, none longer than her forearm. They were wiggling as if alive, trying to squirm their way through the window seam. “No! No, out!” Yvonne double-checked the lock on the window, looking back at Marvin. “Is this your fault?! What is this?!”

Marvin grinned. “It’s me! Us? All. Shards, missing missing, put together, held together.”

“What the actual criss-cross applesauce _hell_ does that mean?!” Yvonne looked back at the window. The green glowing strings were bunching together. As she watched, some of them formed into…a hand. “No!” She slammed her hands down on the windowsill, eyes flaring sky blue. A shockwave of blue and yellow magic burst outward, sending the green strings flying into the distance. They disappeared into the sky, and Yvonne took a moment to catch her breath. “Impressive Sending there,” she muttered. “Must’ve pushed them at least a few blocks away…”

Marvin seemed to slump a bit, somehow disappointed. He closed his eyes again. “It’s nothing, nothing…I-I…we need…it’s not… _fair…_ ”

Yvonne sighed, running a hand through her colored hair. “Well, life’s not fair.” She turned back around. “What do you need, Marv? What do you want? What can…what can I do?”

“Need…” Marvin opened his eyes. They flickered green. “Need…the other one. Want? Want…the…t̢̧h͠e͢m.”

There was something odd about the way he’d said that. “Who’s them…?” Yvonne asked hesitantly.

Marvin grinned. “The puppets.”

* * *

“I’ll text you the number, okay? For now, it seems like I really need to get home, since apparently you left the kids home alone with some strangers.”

“Sorry,” Chase muttered. God, he couldn’t do anything right, could he?

Stacy’s voice softened. “I’ll call you later.” And without further ado, she hung up.

Chase sighed, setting the phone down. This day had been a lot to process. And it was barely eight o’clock.

Jack reappeared in the living room. He smiled at Chase. “Hey, dude. I brought you some chips.” The smile quickly faded. “What’s wrong?”

Chase looked over at him. “Get everyone else in here. There have been some…complications.”


	19. Threads

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys hear that Jackie is alive and back, but when they go to meet him, something's...off. Unknown to them, something's wrong with Marvin, too.

Nine o’clock in the morning, and the day had already gone off the rails in multiple ways. The group gathered in the living room of Schneep’s apartment. Chase and Jack sat on one of the sofas, and Schneep and JJ sat on the other, opposite them. They’d brought in snacks, mainly chips and oven-made fries, but nobody was touching them in light of the discussion.

“Look, we have no reason to trust this stranger or his word,” Schneep was saying. “He could be lying.”

“Yeah, but why would anyone lie about something like this?” Chase countered. “‘Hi, your friend who died has come back to life and really wants to see you,’ what could possibly be gained from that?”

“And he’s not really a stranger,” Jack added. “I think I kinda remember Jackie mentioning him before. Said he was a detective, or something.”

Schneep rolled his eyes. “It does not matter in the end. He could still be lying.”

_But I have to agree with Chase_ , JJ signed. _Why would he do so?_

Chase looked at JJ, startled but relieved. He waited for Jack to translate Jameson’s signs for Schneep before continuing. “Yeah, and it’s not totally out of possibility, is it? When we thought we defeated Anti before, Jackie and Marvin reappeared. Maybe now that Anti is gone for good, they came back somehow.”

Schneep folded his arms. “If we say they have come back in some way, there is a high chance they will not be the same, given how…odd they were last time.”

Chase glanced back over at JJ. “Yeah, uh, we’ve…thought about that.” He waited for JJ to jump in, but there was nothing. “But…I mean, we should still check it out, right? Stacy gave me this guy’s number, I can call him to see what’s up.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Jack added. “See for ourselves what this guy’s like. Or, uh, hear. You know?” 

“Yes yes, we can do that first.” Schneep nodded. “What was his name again?”

“Malcolm,” Chase said, picking up his phone and copying the number from his notes into the dialer. “I’ve never met him before, but then again, I don’t really know all of your guys’ friends either.” He could’ve been at the funeral, but then again, Chase didn’t think he would have remembered him if he was. He was a little…distracted at the time.

“Yeah, I think I’ve heard him mention that name before,” Jack said. “Or I’m just thinking about Marvin instead.”

 _Speaking of which, where would Marvin be?_ JJ asked. _The two of them were, well, stuck together, weren’t they? But this stranger only called us to talk about Jackie._

“Uh, maybe the two of them just…separated?” Jack suggested.

“Guys it’s ringing,” Chase shushed. Everyone else fell silent.

The other end clicked as it was picked up. “Hello?”

Chase swallowed a lump in his throat. “Hi, it’s Chase. Are you Malcolm? Uh, I think you called my, um, ex?”

“Oh yeah!” The man on the other end sounded friendly enough, if not at all familiar. “Yeah, that was me. Sorry about that, by the way. I have no idea why he remembered your ex’s number and not yours.”

“Right, ha,” Chase laughed nervously. “So, uh…did you really…I-I mean, did Ja—is he really, uh, is Jackie—”

“No I get it, it sounds insane,” Malcolm said. “But yeah, Jackie is…alive. I-I don’t know how, but he is. I can probably put him on, if you’d like.”

Chase felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. “Uh…yeah, you can do that.”

“Great. Hold on a minute.” On the other end he heard what sounded like a hardwood floor. A door opened, and Malcolm’s voice came through, the words muffled. A few seconds later, a different voice came through the line. “Chase? Chase?”

It took him a moment to respond. The others were all staring at him intensely, Jack actually leaning a bit closer as if he could hear what was happening in the call. “Uh…yeah,” Chase finally said. “It’s me. Is this—”

“It’s you!” Jackie’s familiar voice was bright. “It’s you, you! Where are you? I can’t find you.”

“Uh, y-yeah it’s me,” Chase said. “I’m, uh…I’m on my way.”

“Here?”

“Yeah, to wherever you are.”

“Hurry! Where are you? Tell me!” Jackie insisted.

“Um…can you hand the phone back to your friend?” Chase asked. “So he can tell me where you are.”

“Where are you?!” Jackie repeated.

“I’m going there, I just need to know where there is,” Chase persisted. “Can you tell me or hand the phone so your friend can tell me?”

Jackie groaned, sounding disappointed. There was a vague sort of shuffling sound. “Are you still there?” Malcolm asked.

“Yeah,” Chase said. He glanced around at the others. “So…I guess we’ll be stopping by.”

“That would be great,” Malcolm replied. “Jackie is, uh…he really wants to see you. I’m at 756 Windscape Lane, it’s on the west side. My roommate will be out all day, but I took the day off work so I’ll…be here. With Jackie.”

“756 Windscape Lane,” Chase repeated, giving the others a significant look. JJ immediately took out his phone and typed in the address. “We’ll be there soon.”

“Great. See you then.” _Click._ The call ended.

“So…” Schneep said slowly. “Was he telling the truth?”

Chase looked up. “Well…y-yeah, he put Jackie on the line, and…well it sounded like him. I’d know that voice anywhere.” He paused. “I…I guess it could have been a trick somehow, but it…sounded like him,” he repeated lamely.

JJ took a deep breath. _Well, we should at least check it out, shouldn’t we?_

“Uh, yeah,” Chase said, giving JJ a slightly startled look. “The address isn’t that far from here, I think. But I don’t have my car so we can’t drive, and it’ll take a while on the bus—”

“I think I could get us there,” Schneep interrupted. “Or at least close.” The air seemed to shiver around him. “I have been practicing, after all.”

“Right, sounds like we’re all good, then,” Jack said. “Do we need anything? JJ, you want a scarf for your face?”

 _That would be nice,_ JJ said.

“Well let’s hurry, then,” Chase said. “I said we’d be there soon.” And he wanted to see what this was all about. See if there was anything to hope for.

* * *

“Stupid power outage,” Yvonne muttered. She was laying on the sofa, pointing her flashlight at the ceiling and making patterns with the circle of light. “Stupid crazy shit happening in the world.” She sighed, and looked over at the nearby armchair. “How’re you hanging on?”

Marvin was curled up in the chair, hugging his mask to himself. He didn’t respond. In fact, he hadn’t said anything at all since that weird comment about “puppets” an hour or so ago.

“Great, glad to hear it,” she commented, looking back at the ceiling. If she could just figure out what was up with his soul, and with those strange strings. She had the feeling they were connected with each other. Sighing, she turned to face the coffee table. Earlier, she’d grabbed a few books from her shop downstairs that she thought might help. Hadn’t had the…initiative to look at them yet. Now was as good a time as any. She reached over and grabbed one, flipping to the table of contents. “Hey, it’s _Rituals for the Curious Soul Mage_. Remember this?”

Marvin turned to look at her. Still didn’t say anything, just…staring.

“Course you do,” Yvonne mumbled. “You took a spell from it.” The book originally had a lock holding it shut, but one day, shortly after a visit from Marvin a few years ago, the one where he dropped off his mask at her apartment, the lock had suddenly disappeared. Recalling this, she flipped to one of the spells. There were a few pencil notes in the margins that weren’t in her handwriting. Yvonne scanned over the spell and the notes, and paused. “Wait a second.” She sat up straight. “Marvin, you didn’t…you didn’t actually do this, did you?”

He just kept staring at her.

“Look, I’m all for reading up the theory, but you didn’t _actually_ do it, right?” Yvonne repeated, maintaining eye contact. “You knew how dangerous this was, right? Tearing up a soul is—it’s just—” She stopped. “Oh my god, you actually did it,” she whispered. “That’s why your soul is—oh my holy fuck.” She read over the page once again, running her finger along the title: _Transference Ritual._ “Who’d you convince to be the other…” Slowly, she trailed off. “Your flatmate. Both of you died at the same time, you…shit. Fuck shit.” She snapped the book closed. “What happened to him? What happened to _you?_ Why are you back now?”

Finally, Marvin shook his head slowly. “I don’t know where the other me is,” he said quietly.

Yvonne buried her face in her hands. “It’s fine. It’s—I’ll figure it out.”

Marvin tilted his head, then looked out the window. “Shards?” He asked. “Where did we go?”

“I still have no idea what you’re talking about,” Yvonne sighed. “But I’m closer. It’s fine. It’s going to be fine.” She picked up the book again and reopened it to the same page. Maybe she could learn something from this spell.

* * *

Meanwhile, on the west side of the city, the air seemed to shimmer, and all of a sudden, four men popped into existence on the sidewalk. One of them immediately bent over and covered his mouth. Another pressed his hands to his head. “Oh god, I don’t feel so well,” the last one muttered.

“What? You were all fine when I took you to the apartment!” Schneep protested.

“Maybe it’s like…you can’t do too many at once?” Jack asked, shaking his head. “But yeah, doesn’t matter, I still feel like my insides want to be on the outside.”

“Same,” Chase muttered, straightening. “And dizzy too.” He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them wide. “Okay, but it looks like we’re here. Uhh…what was the address again?”

JJ pulled his hands away from his head and signed _756 Windscape Lane._

“Right, 756.” Chase nodded. “Looks like we’re already on Windscape Lane. Nice place, I guess. Quaint.”

 _It’s an older section of the city,_ JJ explained.

“Well, we’re at 740.” Jack pointed at the number on one of the nearby houses. “We’re close. Let’s go.”

It was just a couple blocks’ walk before they reached their destination. The town house labelled 756 looked just like any of the others on the street. Chase hurried up the short walkway to stand on the threshold. He glanced behind him. Schneep was clutching Jack’s arm for stability, and JJ was adjusting the scarf around the lower half of his face. Jack nodded for Chase to go ahead. Chase nodded back, and turned around, ringing the doorbell.

A few seconds later, the door was opened by a black-haired man in a purple hoodie. “Oh hey,” he said.

“Hey,” Chase said, recognizing the voice from the earlier phone call. “Sooo…I’m Chase.”

“Malcolm. Nice to meet you.” The other man held out his hand for a shake, but slowly withdrew it when Chase didn’t take it. “Uh…I wasn’t expecting a whole group. It’s fine, though. Come in, come in.”

The group entered, finding themselves in a dim hallway lit only by a couple candles on a table. “Man, it’s so dark in here,” Jack complained. “I can barely see anything.”

“Oh no, what a nightmare,” Schneep drawled.

“…sorry,” Jack muttered.

 _Did you just quote Avatar?_ JJ asked.

“I think he did,” Chase said.

“Uh…I think I’m missing context for this conversation.” Malcolm looked between the group. “Anyway, yeah. The power’s out. Sorry about that.”

“I think it’s a citywide thing,” Chase shrugged. “It was out at the last two places we were.” He hesitated. “So…where’s, uh…”

“Upstairs,” Malcolm said, anticipating the question. “He’s been hanging out in our spare room. Haven’t told my roommate yet, because honestly I don’t know what the fuck to say about this.” He pulled his phone out of the pocket and switched on the flashlight feature. Pointing it to the side, the beam landed on a staircase leading upward. “C’mon, I’ll show you.”

A quick climb up the stairs and they were in another hallway. Malcolm led them all the way down to the last door on the left. He opened the door slowly, shining his flashlight inside. “Hello? Jackie? Your friends are here.” The room was dark, of course, the only light coming from a battery-powered digital clock. It was hard to even see the vague shapes of furniture. Malcolm glanced back at the others. “I’ll uh…open the window.” He darted inside. Curtains rattled on the rod and morning light flooded the room, landing on a figure sitting on a bed and looking downwards.

Chase and Jack exchanged looks, both reluctant to go inside. But after a bit, Chase took a deep breath and stepped inside first. “Hey, uh, Jackie?”

At the sound of his voice, Jackie’s head snapped up and whipped towards him. Chase stopped in his tracks. It was _definitely_ Jackie. Wearing his favorite red hoodie and a pair of jeans, brown-haired and blue-eyed like he’d always been. Jackie smiled wide, the expression so familiar it ached, and ran right over.

“Ja—oof!” Chase stiffened as Jackie wrapped his arms around him in a tight hug, momentarily at a loss for words. After the initial shock of seeing and feeling Jackie alive again, he was starting to feel the panic at the skin contact sinking in. He looked at the others with an expression of panic on his face, practically begging for them to tell him what to do about this.

Jack nodded, and walked inside the room, Schneep following behind, still gripping his arm. “Uh, hey Jackie. So…you’re back?”

“Hmm.” Jackie glanced over at Jack and Schneep, not letting go at Chase. “Others.”

“Uh…yeah, we’re the others,” Jack said slowly. “You, uh…you okay?”

Jackie didn’t answer. Chase started to squirm, pushing at Jackie’s arms. Malcolm, standing back over by the window, cleared his throat. “Yeah, so…he’s been acting weird like this ever since he showed up here.”

“Weird like what?” Schneep asked.

Malcolm waved vaguely at Jackie, still attached to Chase. “You know…he keeps talking weird and disconnected, or not talking at all. I think his memory’s fuzzy or something, he didn’t…didn’t remember his name at first. I have no idea what’s going on.”

“Can someone get him to stop?” Chase whisper-shouted at the others. “It’s—” He yelped. Jackie had suddenly grabbed his wrist. Sharply jerking it back, he stammered out, “Uh, Jackie, don’t—please don’t do—I-I mean I’m glad to see you too, but—but don’t—”

“Where’d they go?” Jackie asked, brows scrunching together in confusion.

“Where’d what go?” Chase asked, trying to lean back.

Jameson finally stepped into the room. _I hate to ask this, but…he wasn’t like this before, was he?_

Jack shook his head, momentarily at a loss for words. “Not at all…I mean, he was always a touchy-feely kind of—actually no, that sounds wrong, I mean he liked to hug people a lot. But he’d stop if you didn’t want it. If he didn’t, Marvin never would’ve lived—”

“Marvin!” Jackie suddenly shouted, looking around as if he expected to see him nearby. “Where is me? Us? The missing parts.”

“He’s been doing a lot of that,” Malcolm muttered, rubbing his temple like he was getting a headache. “Lots of talk about me and us and something missing.”

“That is…odd,” Schneep said, narrowing his eyes. “Jackie, can you stop that? You are making Chase uncomfortable.”

Jackie growled. “No. He’s ours.” He squeezed Chase tighter, not noticing or not caring how his uncomfortable expression turned to one of genuine distress.

“Well that’s…unsettling,” Jack said.

 _Jack_. Jameson stepped closer. _Maybe you could use your soul vision on him?_

“Huh? Oh yeah.” He’d almost forgotten to try that. The weird soul vision was just normal to him now. With that reminder, he closed his left eye and watched the world turn monochrome. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Malcolm’s soul glowing a bright violet, but he was more concentrated on what he was seeing in front of him. Last time he’d looked at Jackie’s soul, it had been a random mess of red and blue shards. Now? Well, the soul was still broken, but the pieces were mostly red, and they seemed larger than before, almost holding together a shape. Almost. They still weren’t a solid light like all the other souls were, and about a fourth of them were still blue. “Okay, that’s…still concerning, but not as concerning as it was.”

“Uhh…once again, I’m missing something,” Malcolm said.

“It’s a long story,” Jack said. “What’s important is that…Chase, are you okay?”

Chase didn’t answer. He’d slowly gone very pale, shaking a bit and breathing faster and faster. Once again, Jackie paid no mind to this, content to keep hugging him tight.

“This does not seem good,” Schneep muttered, pushing away from Jack. He walked over to Jackie and Chase and slowly reached out. Once he made contact, grabbing Jackie’s arm, he started physically trying to separate them.

Jackie suddenly shrieked, turning his attention to Schneep. “No! You can’t!” He shoved Schneep away, sending him stumbling backwards. “Stupid usel̴e̡s͝s doctor! He’s ours!”

“Jackie!” Schneep gasped.

“Hey!” Jack stepped forward. “Just drop it, Jackie! And leave Chase alone! Look at him, can’t you see you’re freaking him out?” Chase was rapidly blinking back tears as he tried to keep from hyperventilating. “I get you’re excited to see him, but you can’t do this.”

“We can do anything,” Jackie said in a low voice. “He’s ơu͝r̡s̕.” Without warning, he grabbed Chase’s bandanna and started pulling. Chase made a startled squeak that turned into something more choked as the bandanna didn’t come undone.

A bright blue light suddenly burst in between Jackie and Chase, growing into a sphere made of lines of runes that slowly pushed them apart. Once they were separated, Jameson slowly lowered his hand. _Chase, are you okay?_ He asked.

Chase covered his mouth with his hands, breathing heavily. “I-I’m…gonna…” He walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge, saying nothing more.

“Um, okay!” Malcolm looked back and forth between JJ and the spot where the sphere had been. “Excuse me for interrupting the moment, but what the fuck’s going on here?!”

“Magic is real, that is what’s going on here,” Schneep said curtly. “Jackie, no.” He lunged forward and grabbed Jackie by the back of the hoodie, just in time to stop him from walking over to Chase. “At least I can feel him like normal,” Schneep muttered. “Not like last time. I know where he is.”

Jackie, very obviously upset at being grabbed, started to turn around. He was probably planning on hitting Schneep at the very least, but he stopped halfway through, staring at the window. His eyes widened, and he suddenly laughed.

“Uh…that does not sound like a happy laugh,” Schneep said. “That sounds a bit…evil.”

Jack, Jameson, and Malcolm looked over at the window in unison. There didn’t seem to be anything there, so Malcolm, standing closest, edged up to it and looked out the glass. “I don’t see—wait what the fuck?!” He jumped back, just in time for the others to see something green crawling up the side. “What is that, string?!”

“String?!” Jack ran over to the window. Bits of green string were climbing along the edges of the glass, wriggling like snakes. The sight made him a bit sick, memories of Anti flashing through his mind as he slowly backed up. “What is that?!”

“I thought we’d established that it’s string,” Malcolm said. “The real question is, what’s it doing here?” His eyes widened. “Wait, is it—?!”

The window swung open. Quickly, the bits of string climbed inside, dropping to the ground and inching their way across the floor.

“It’s me!” Jackie said, delighted. “Parts of missing pieces!” He started to walk towards the string, but Schneep grabbed him, pinning his arms to his side. Jackie scowled. “Stop it! I need it!”

“I do not know what’s going on,” Schneep said, “but it sounds bad! What is happening?!”

“It’s weird string!” Jack continued to back away from them. “A bunch of them! They’re—oh god, that’s creepy, they’re like little worms.” His head followed their movement. “And they’re heading for Jackie!”

Malcolm ran over and slammed the window shut, trapping a few strings on the other side. “Well I’m guessing we don’t want that, so what do we do?!” He looked over at Jameson. “Can’t you do the same sort of thing you did to separate them?!”

Jameson jumped in surprise, then nodded, throwing out his hand. A disc of blue sprang up in front of the strings’ path. When they tried to squirm around it, JJ curved the magic around them, until eventually trapping them in a dome of blue light. _Problem solved,_ he signed shakily.

“Okay but seriously, what _is_ this?” Jack asked, inching closer to the strings contained in their magic dome.

Jackie managed to shake free of Schneep’s hold and immediately lunged forward. Schneep cried out and tackled him. The two landed hard on the floor. After a few seconds of wrestling, Schneep managed to pin Jackie to the ground.

Chase, looking only slightly less pale, glanced over at the strings. “Hey, they look like, um…you know…” He laughed nervously. “You know, the last time, when Jack pulled the string out of Anti? They look like that did, but lots of them.”

“God, what have you guys been _up_ to?” Malcolm muttered.

“Huh. Actually, they do,” Jack said to Chase. “What does that…?”

 _I wonder,_ Jameson signed, _if it is the same string._

“Wait, what?!” Jack whipped over to look at him. “JJ, that’s—is that possible? For this string to be the same? I mean, it wouldn’t have duplicated or anything, would it?”

“Hold on a moment.” Schneep paused. Jackie tried to take advantage of this and try to climb to his feet, but Schneep realized what he was trying and grabbed him again. “The—ach—the strings, I snipped them up, remember? Into many little pieces. I thought…I thought that would destroy him.” He hesitated again. “Maybe it…did not?”

Momentary silence filled the room. Then Chase said, in a voice quiet enough to be barely heard, “Maybe…in order for him to go away completely, we have to completely destroy these strings.”

Schneep nodded. “That…that would make sense.”

 _But how do we do that?_ Jameson asked. _These aren’t normal pieces of sewing thread, they’re magic._

“We can figure something out,” Jack said decisively. “In the meantime.” He looked over at Malcolm. “Do you have, like, a jar or something we can use?”

“Uh…I don’t know if we have a jar, but I’m sure there’s something in the kitchen.” Malcolm edged around the room, giving everyone else space. “I’ll just…go look.” And he hurried out of the room.

“Alright. Amazing,” Schneep said. “But also, what do we do about—ahk!“

Jackie had managed to shift around and punch him in the face, whipping his head to the side. Schneep, startled, momentarily loosened his grip enough for him to wriggle out and climb to his feet. He darted straight towards the spot the strings were imprisoned on the floor. His hand flung out like he was throwing something. And something did fly out of his hand, though he wasn’t holding anything. Bits of jagged red light sprayed outward, sharp edges scraping along the edge of the blue magic dome until it burst like a popped balloon, all the strings flying outward.

“Wait, what?!” Jack gasped.

Jameson staggered back, eyes wide, but then jumped into action, diving forward and once again knocking Jackie to the ground. Jackie cried out, surprised, but reached out. One of the strings crawled forward, making contact with his hand and wrapping around his fingers.

“No!” Chase suddenly dashed forward, pulling off his hoodie and throwing it over the strings. It covered them all, and he quickly swept them up, holding his hoodie in a ball close to his chest. “God, they’re still wriggling.” He shivered.

Jackie’s expression brightened. “Chase! Chase. Chase Chase Chase.” He held out his hand, the string now tightening around his wrist like a woven bracelet.

Chase stared at him, then without looking away, gestured for Jack to come closer. Jack hurried over, and Chase passed the hoodie to him, still balled up to prevent any of the string bits from falling out. “H-hey, Jackie,” Chase said, smiling nervously. “How…what’s up?”

“I…I don’t remember,” Jackie whispered. “But hey. Come here. Please?”

JJ looked up at Chase, alarm in his eyes. Chase swallowed nervously, then nodded. After a moment’s hesitation, Jameson backed away, letting Jackie sit up straight. Chase scooted a bit closer, and Jackie immediately snatched him, wrapping his arms tightly around him.

“Chase…” Jack said softly, gaping.

“It’s fine,” Chase said hoarsely, giving Jack a wavering smile. “Go down and find that Malcolm guy, give him the, uh…hoodie.”

Jack didn’t move for a long while. But slowly, he backed up, leaving the room.

Schneep slowly walked over, offering JJ a hand to help him up, which he took. “This is all wrong,” he muttered.

“Y-yeah, no shit,” Chase mumbled. “Jackie wasn’t magic.”

Schneep frowned. “I was not talking about _that_ , but yes. Perhaps being stuck with Marvin for so long had some…effects?”

 _That would make sense, I suppose,_ JJ agreed.

“Maybe,” Chase said quietly. He was trying very hard to keep breathing at a regular pace. Jackie’s hug was…suffocating. But also, he got the feeling that Schneep and JJ were giving him these…strange looks. Well, obviously Schneep couldn’t look at him, but it was something in their expressions. “You, uh…you two okay?”

“Are _you_ okay, Chase?” Schneep countered.

“Hey, I’ll…live.” By this point, Jackie seemed to have significantly relaxed, closing his eyes. For whatever reason, he’d been able to distract him from the weird string things, and that was all that mattered. Speaking of which…“Hey, weren’t there more of…those? That got stuck outside?”

The two others stiffened. Jameson glanced over, then walked up to the window and peered out. After a moment, he pushed it open and leaned out, looking down and to the side. Then he pulled back inside and shut it. _Well for whatever reason, they’re gone now,_ he signed. And then he tapped on the glass, no doubt saying the same thing in Morse code for Schneep.

“What? Where did they go?” Schneep asked.

“Y’know at this moment I don’t really care about that,” Chase said plainly. “We can deal with that later.”

The other two shifted uncomfortably. JJ tried to exchange a look with Schneep before remembering he couldn’t respond in kind. Schneep folded his arms and went to stand by the door. Jameson stayed at the window. And Jackie didn’t seem at all eager to let Chase go, so they remained on the floor, waiting for Jack and Malcolm to return.

* * *

The power in the city didn’t come on for another few hours. When it did, it came back in patches, depending on which section had managed to repair the mysterious damage done at the junctions. Yvonne’s shop was fortunately close to one of the repaired sections. Around noon, she sighed in relief as the lamps in her living room came back on. She was getting tired of straining her eyes to read books by flashlight. “Well, guess now’s a good time to take a lunch break,” she said, setting a book aside. “You hungry, Marvin?”

“Hmm?” Marvin hadn’t moved much from his position. But he nodded slowly. “Yes. Food.”

“Food is good.” Yvonne stood up and stretched. “C’mon, to the kitchen.” She walked over and grabbed his hand, pulling him to his feet. Together, they went into the apartment’s small kitchen. Marvin hovered in the corner, still holding his mask close, while she searched through the cabinets. “Don’t know if I have anything you’ll eat, you picky bastard,” she muttered. “Uh…I guess some pasta. You want some pasta?”

“Does it matter?” Marvin asked.

“Well not to me, but does it to you?”

“Does it?”

“Does it?”

“Does—”

“Okay, never mind, fuck, I’ll just make spaghetti,” Yvonne groaned. She grabbed the box and a pot, filling it up with water and setting the noodles on the stove. 

After a moment, Marvin walked closer, standing behind her and looking over her shoulder. She glanced over at him. “Uh…you know what they say about watched pots and boiling,” she said, trying to make it a joke.

Marvin blinked. “…no? I don’t remember that one. I-I don’t remember…there are things missing, still, without the other half.”

“Uh…right.” Yvonne said slowly. “Well, I”m just saying, we don’t need to watch it. We can just…sit down. At the counter, here.” She took a seat on one of the stools, patting another to indicate Marvin to do the same.

He didn’t. Instead he turned around and walked back into the living room, probably going to wait in there.

“…well, you can do that, too,” Yvonne commented. She sighed, and leaned back against the counter. What did he mean about the other half? Perhaps…she’d seen the way his soul looked in the Lens, the way it was…broken. Was only half of his soul there? That would explain some of the weirdness with his memory. There was evidence that the memory and the soul were linked, though it wasn’t clear if the soul affected memories or vice versa. In fact, a lot of people, even soul magicians, were still unsure what the soul was. The common consensus so far was that souls were like summing up someone into a single entity, like compressing their memories, beliefs, personalities, and everything else into a small, magical something. But it was also something different from all that, different from the mind, which was evident in how mental magic and soul magic were completely unrelated branches.

She continued to think over this as she watched the pot of noodles boil, and eventually turned the stove off, grabbing the strainer. As she poured the spaghetti into the strainer, she wondered if everything strange about Marvin could be explained by the strange way his soul had been broken. And that, the breaking of the soul, was likely related to the failed transference ritual. Though…it still didn’t explain why Marvin had actually died, or why he was back now…

In the other room, Marvin started laughing.

Yvonne paused. That wouldn’t have sounded so weird, with the Marvin she’d known before. But this was a different Marvin. Though his laugh was the same, it was…she hesitated to admit it, but it was creepy hearing it now. Abandoning the pasta, she walked back into the living room.

Marvin was standing by the window. Which was now open. That was odd. She’d left it closed ever since those strange green—

She shrieked as she saw the bits of string wriggling into the room. Less of them than before, but still concerning. What did they want?! Getting over it, she straightened. A Sending had taken care of them last time, it will this time as well. “Marvin, get away from those!” she shouted, rushing forward.

Marvin glared at her, snarling. He made a sweeping motion with his hand. There was a blast of cobalt-colored light, and suddenly glowing blue strings were shooting out from his hands. Yvonne hesitated for just a moment, surprised, but it was long enough for the blue strings to wrap around her, pinning her legs together and her arms to her side. She gasped, and lost her balance, landing hard on her side. What was this?! This wasn’t a spell that Marvin knew! At least, not before the transference ritual must’ve gone wrong. She tried to fight against the magic, but it simply wound tighter, and she was panicking too much to get a good grip on a spell of her own. “Marvin!” She shouted. “What are you doing?”

He didn’t even look at her. The green bits of string were now inside. Marvin reached towards them, and the string crawled up his arms, wrapping around them, heading upwards until they reached his neck. They burrowed under the bandages Yvonne had wrapped there, loosening them until they fell. Marvin shivered, closed his eyes, and laughed again. “Missing, missing, more complete, complete!… _nearly_ c͝o̵mplęt͞e.”

Yvonne managed to sit up, pushing herself against the wall. “Marvin…?” she asked softly.

Marvin’s eyes snapped open, his right eye now glowing bright green. Reaching up, he pulled off the bandages. The strings had woven into the cut on his neck, crudely stitching it closed. “We…I found more missing pieces,” he said, voice tinged with static. “And yes, yes, I remember. All the others, all the pu͡p͠pe̢t͢s.” He clenched his fists, trembling slightly—but not with fear, with anger. “We hate them so…s̕o̢͡ much. Why? That’s still missing. I need to find that, too. But I…I know that now.” He laughed. “Which do we find first? The puppets or the shards?”

“Marvin…” Yvonne repeated softly. “What are you talking about?”

“You’re his friend,” Marvin said, tilting his head. “He came here often, he…his mask.” He looked back over at the sofa, the ceramic cat-shaped mask discarded on it. Slowly, he reached over and picked it up, turning it over in his hands. He gripped it firmly, and—

CRACK!

One half of the mask fell back to the sofa. Still holding the other half, Marvin pulled out the ribbon that would’ve held the mask in place. He put it up to his face, covering the left upper half. One of the strings from his throat unstitched itself and crawled upward, becoming the new ribbon holding it in place. “And the sho͟w ͢goe͞s̴ o͏n,” he whispered, running a hand along the ceramic, magic slowly staining it blue instead of white. A smile twisted his face.

Yvonne stared in shock. What…what had those strings done? Mentally, she finally started running through some spells, looking for one that’ll help.

Marvin stared right back at her, and after a moment, approached. Yvonne tried backing up, but she was already backed against the wall. Slowly, Marvin bent over, his face inches from hers. “Hold tight to everything,” he whispered. “Before it fades away. There will be nothing left but a bleeding hole inside your chest.” And with a final flash of a grin, he disappeared in a flurry of white noise.

The blue strings of magic disappeared, and Yvonne hurried to her feet, looking around. She ran a quick detection spell, finding no other soul in her apartment. Once she was sure of that, she hurried over to the sofa, grabbing the other half of the mask.

What happened to Marvin? What had he become?

* * *

It had taken a few hours to convince Jackie that holding Chase’s hand was just as good as hugging him. Now, with the group gathered in the town house’s parlor room, Jackie and Chase were sitting on the sofa, with Jackie holding tight to Chase’s arm and leaning his head on his shoulder. With the strings out of sight, he seemed content to just hang around. Still, the others kept giving him uneasy glances, especially Jameson, standing in the corner. Jack and Schneep had taken the two armchairs, and Malcolm was pacing the length of the room, thinking over the very brief explanation the others had given him.

“Do you think that maybe we need to cut them up further?” Schneep asked. His scissors had appeared in his hands at some point, and he was now turning them over.

“No, I don’t think so,” Jack said. In his lap was a metal water bottle, its lid duct-taped closed. He gripped it tight, feeling the strings moving inside. “I think if we cut them up further, it’ll just be harder to keep track of them.”

“Ah. I suppose that makes sense.” Schneep frowned. “What will they even do?”

“Well…there’s this one around his wrist,” Chase said tentatively, holding up Jackie’s hand so the others could see the tight string bracelet. “They, uh, were all moving towards him. And he wanted to get to them. A lot like last time.”

 _Perhaps if they all get to him, Anti will somehow return again?_ JJ speculated.

Jackie giggled. “I have no idea what you’re saying. Do I know this language? Did I forget it?”

“I don’t think you did, buddy,” Jack muttered. 

“Okay, so.” Malcolm stopped pacing, turning to look at the others. “Can we burn the crazy magic string? Is that possible?”

“I do not think so,” Schneep shrugged. “But I suppose we could try.”

“What happens when we do get rid of them?” Chase asked. “Will, uh.. _.he_ …” He tried to push Jackie’s head away, only for it to land right back on his shoulder. “Stay like this or change or…?”

Nobody answered that question, the silence filling the air. Until it was interrupted by a doorbell. Malcolm groaned in frustration. “God I swear if any other crazy shit happens to make me question reality I’m going to go straight to bed, I don’t care anymore,” he muttered as he headed out to the front door.

“Uh, okay, so,” Jack said. “Back to JJ’s question. If the string get to him, will Anti return?”

“But I’m a͟lready͝ ͝ḩer̕ȩ.”

Silence once again. Everyone looked over at Jackie. They had to let it sink in that yes, he had just said that. Chase leaned away, looking suddenly sick. Jameson adjusted the scarf around his mouth and stared at the ground. “Well that was the creepiest thing you have ever said,” Schneep mumbled, gripping his scissors.

“Um…Jackie.” Jack inched his chair a bit closer. “You’re not…you’re Jackie, not anyone else.”

“No, we are someone else, too,” Jackie insisted.

In the third silence that ensued, the group could hear talking, coming from the direction of the front door. And it was getting closer. Malcolm poked his head into the room. “Hey, uh, someone’s here to see all of you,” he said.

“What?” Schneep asked.

 _Who could that be?_ Jameson asked.

“Yeah, I agree with JJ, who is it?” Jack asked.

A figure stepped out from around Malcolm. An older woman, with a dark braid of hair down her back and her eyes glowing a slight purple. “Sorry for dropping in on all of you like this,” said Delyth Mae, magician. “But we really need to talk.”


	20. Twice Bitten, Once Shy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group gains a couple of new allies, just in time for a new enemy to confront them.

“Sorry for dropping in on all of you like this. But we really need to talk.”

For a moment, everyone just stared at the person who’d just walked into the room. The same magician from…was it really just earlier that morning? One of the ones they’d fought with, the one named Delyth Mae. It took a moment to sink in. And then everything burst.

Schneep shot to his feet, wielding his scissors like a knife blade. JJ threw his hand in an arc, conjuring a shield right in front of Delyth, in case she tried to cast any spells. Chase cried out and tried to stand up but was dragged back down by Jackie still clinging to his arm. Jack scrambled backwards, tripping over the chair’s arm in an attempt to back away. “What are you doing here?!” Schneep snarled.

Delyth looked unfazed. She raised her hands like she was surrendering. “I said we need to talk,” she repeated calmly.

“You tried to kill us!” Chase squeaked.

“ _No,_ ” Delyth emphasized. “That was never the plan. It wasn’t even the plan to fight you unless you were hostile. Tavish and Nairne were out of line, and I’ve removed them from this team. Now, I hope to approach this diplomatically.”

Schneep barked out a laugh. “You think we are going to trust you—”

JJ lowered the shield.

“Jay what the fuck?!” Chase shouted.

“Wait, what? What just happened?” Schneep asked, suddenly shifting his mood to confused.

“Your friend seems to be reasonable,” Delyth said, stepping further into the room. “I’m so sorry to impose on you, Mr. Akela.”

“Uh…no, it’s fine,” Malcolm said, remaining in the doorway. “I’m just…gonna…wait here.” He looked visibly awkward, standing in the entrance to his own commandeered living room.

“Hey, uh, JJ, I appreciate your…trusty-ness,” Jack said, warily edging around the room. “But is this a good idea?”

 _When the other two magicians were fighting us, she was trying to stop them,_ JJ remembered. _I think she’s willing to talk it out, at least._

“She tried to stop the other two who were fighting us, huh?” Jack repeated. “I guess that makes sense.”

Schneep grumbled, but lowered his scissors. “Fine, but I will stay on my guard.”

Delyth walked yet further into the room, now standing in the center. She looked around, and her eyes landed on Jackie. “Oh hello.”

Jackie blinked. “Do I…? No, I definitely don’t know you.”

“Just say why you are here,” Schneep prompted.

“Well, last time, I told you about the unusually high levels of soul magic in the city.” Delyth folded her hands. “I believe you may know something about it. If you would give us information, I give you my promise, the ABIM will do everything we can to help you with any troubles you may have.”

“Huh…I guess that could be helpful,” Chase said reluctantly. “If you’re telling the truth.”

“Of course I am!” Delyth’s tone became suddenly impatient. “Look, we’ve been chasing this soul magic for a long time now, people above me want results. I’m sure we can help.”

“Uh…well I guess it might be good to have some magical knowledge when it comes to this.” Jack held up the water bottle with the duct-taped lid.

“Jack, please,” Schneep said, exasperated.

“Oh, sorry, Hen, I’m just talking about the strings,” Jack said.

“Well, I could get context clues, but still.” Schneep hummed. “I suppose you are right.”

“Well, I’m glad we’ve come to an agreement, then,” Delyth smiled. “Now. Can you please tell me what—wait, hold on a second.” She reached into a pocket and pulled out a small tape recorder. “I have to record this as a testimony. None of you mind, do you?”

 _I would like to point out that you can’t record me,_ JJ immediately said.

“Yeah, JJ uses sign language, how’s that gonna work?” Chase asked.

“Well I suppose one of you will have to translate,” Delyth said. “Other than that, is everything okay?” Everyone made sounds of agreement, though Schneep’s was a bit reluctant. “Great.” Delyth pressed a button on the recorder. “This is Delyth Mae, member of the Magi, Investigation Level 4. Case 3-10100703. Witness interview for information. Please state your names for the record.”

Uh…” Jack blinked, and glanced around at the others. “I’m, uh…Jack McLoughlin.”

“I’m Chase,” Chase says, now squirming to adjust positions while Jackie was still refusing to let go. “Chase Brody.”

“Dr. Henrik von Schneeplestein,” Schneep states clearly. “And this is our friend Jameson Jackson, who unfortunately cannot talk for your recorder.” JJ waved.

“Thank you. Now, two of you, Mr. McLoughlin and Mr. Schneeplestein—”

“Doctor,” Schneep said tersely.

“Sorry, Dr. Schneeplestein.” Delyth paused. “Out of curiosity, what are you a doctor of?”

“I…was a surgeon,” Schneep said slowly.

“Well, the two of you give off distinct signatures of soul magic, is that correct?”

“Apparently,” Jack laughed nervously.

“And on that basis, I thought that you may know something about the high levels of soul magic in the city.” Delyth seems to be providing an explanation for the tape recorder. “Now, can you tell me what that is, that you know?”

Nobody really wanted to start. But after a moment of admittedly awkward silence, Chase said, “Well, I guess it started with this guy and his roommate.” Chase pointed to Jackie. “This is…well, he’s a friend of ours.”

“What’s your name, sir?” Delyth asked.

Jackie blinked. “I’m—we’re—I’m Jackie. But I think I—we—I have more names than that.”

“Look, it’s a long story,” Chase interrupted. “Just…don’t say anything until we’re done.” And he started to explain.

* * *

Someone was walking through the city streets. It was eleven o’clock in the morning, and a lot of people were out, pedestrians and drivers alike. But no one seemed to notice him. Which was unusual, you would think a man wearing half a mask, stained blue and shaped like a cat face, with green string stitching across his neck, eyes glimmering blue and green and occasionally red…you would think a man like that would be noticeable.

He was heading somewhere. He wasn’t sure where, but he could feel it tugging at him. Like a string pulling him to a destination. Though he didn’t know where he was going, he knew what would be on the other end of the string. More pieces of him. They were all together.

A woman was following him for a while. Until she noticed he was going in a straight line. Directly straight, cutting through alleyways and yards whenever he could. Puzzled, she opened up a map of the city on her phone, tracing a straight line in the direction he was heading. There wasn’t really anything important in that part of the city. Just a section of townhouses. But he might have been going to one of them. She hurried ahead, and halfway through running, poofed into a cloud of blue smoke. When it faded, she was gone.

The man hadn’t even noticed her disappearing. He hadn’t even noticed her following. All that was important were the missing pieces. And he was getting closer.

White noise flickered around his grinning face.

* * *

The silence after the explanation was deafening. Delyth didn’t say anything as she processed what had just happened. Chase had done most of the explaining, though naturally, there were parts he didn’t know and the others had to fill in. Malcolm had left halfway through, muttering something about stupid crazy magic shit. Jackie had stayed, but he’d stayed silent the whole time, and after a while closed his eyes. Nobody thought he was sleeping.

“This is…frankly unbelievable,” Delyth finally said.

“Don’t worry, we know,” Jack muttered.

“It’s just—” She couldn’t even come up with words to describe it. “The four of you—well, the five of you—you knew Marvin Moore?”

None of them had expected her to grab onto that, out of the whole series of events. “Well, Jameson didn’t,” Jack said. JJ shook his head, but said nothing, aware it wouldn’t be picked up on the recorder. “But yeah, we all did.”

“You know me,” Jackie said, giggling. His eyes stayed firmly closed. “You know me̶.”

The others stared at him for a moment. After a while, when it was clear he wasn’t going to say anything else, Schneep cleared his throat. “Why is that significant?” he asked.

“Marvin Moore was one of only two soul magicians in this city,” Delyth said. “Both of them, coincidentally, had a history of subverting ABIM regulations.”

Chase blinked. “I…never knew Marvin was part of this magical organization. Or, uh, going around it, whatever. Though to be fair, we didn’t think Marvin’s magic was _actually_ magic until all this crazy shit started happening.”

“If what you say is true…” Delyth said slowly. “About this…together…fusion…thing…” She couldn’t help but give Jackie another wary glance. “Then this thing would probably have soul magic as well, thus accounting for the high amounts of trace soul magic in the city. Sounds like it was…active. Until recently.”

“Well, these string things might be…whatever’s left of him.” Jack shook the water bottle, hearing the faint sound of the strings inside. “And they’re very active.”

Delyth shook her head, visibly stunned. “Nothing like this has ever— _ever_ —happened before. Not in all our records, and they go back quite a while. Influencing electricity, this intense hypnotism—opening the Nightmare, for god’s sake. ‘Black magic’ doesn’t even cover what this thing is. It’s—it is a magical abomination.”

Jackie’s eyes suddenly flew open. They seemed to flash red, and he growled, glaring at Delyth. She tensed, her eyes glowing a slight purple in return.

The tension was broken by the doorbell ringing. Malcolm, who’d been listening quietly, made a cry of frustration. “I swear, if it’s anyone else involved in this fucking stuff…” He muttered under his breath as he went to get the door.

“But even if you’ve never heard of something like this before, you can still…like, fix it, right?” Chase asked hopefully.

Delyth frowned. “That isn’t my area of expertise. I know some things about soul magic, but I haven’t studied it, exactly. We’d need to call in people who know more about experimental magic than I do, just to even figure out what we could do.”

“Okay,” Jack said. “So how do we do—”

“Hey!” Malcolm shouted.

Everyone looked towards the sound, just in time to see a young woman with purple and blue hair run into the room. “Mae! It _is_ you!” she said, visibly relieved.

Malcolm ran into the room after her. “I’m sorry, she just pushed right past me, do any of you know her?”

Delyth blinked. She quickly turned off the tape recorder and stood up, shoving it in her pocket. “Yvonne Bell. What are you doing here?”

“It’s a long story, but basically—” Yvonne looked like she was starting with a conversation, but then she glanced around the room and stopped. She stared, wide-eyed, at the group. “Wait, who are you?” 

“Bell, please,” Delyth said, exasperated. “You are on thin ice already—”

“Ohhhh no, wait, I get it now,” Yvonne covered her mouth with her hand. “You’re friends of his, right? Marvin.”

“Oh my god, how the fuck does everyone know Marvin?!” Schneep threw his hands in the air.

 _Are you a magician too?_ JJ asked.

“You—also—magician,” Yvonne said out loud, watching JJ’s hands move. “I’m assuming that’s what that is, I’m a bit rusty. Yes, I am.”

“Yvonne Bell is the second soul magician in the city,” Delyth explained. “It’s only natural that the two of them knew of each other.”

“Well, uh…yeah, you can say that,” Yvonne said, her voice slowly rising in pitch. “Hey, so uh, Mae, I ducked in here cause I thought it was a bit weird, sensing you in this area, I thought you might be able to help, but I think I ended up finding something more important. You are friends of Marv, right? I think I recognize you. Definitely recognize him.” She pointed at Jackie, who was now looking around as if searching for the source of a strange noise. 

“Yeah, we knew him—know him,” Jack said. “Uh…why?”

Yvonne laughed, a bit hysterically. “Well so long story short I ran into him and he’s pretty off his rocker! And also he was heading in this direction last I saw so I tried to find where he was going and that might end up being here.”

Silence fell instantly. It stayed for a few seconds, and then Malcolm immediately turned around and left, muttering something under his breath. Everyone in the living room heard the sound of the stairs creaking. “You know honestly I don’t blame him for that,” Chase sighed. “Uh…Yvonne, is it? What do you mean he’s off his rocker?”

“H-he showed up at my shop last night,” Yvonne started. “And he—well, he was bleeding from this wound on his neck, and at first I thought he was acting weird ‘cause of the blood loss, but it wasn’t that big. He didn’t know where he was or who I was or who he was, kept switching from I to we, saying stuff about puppets, it was all really weird. Then there were these green strings—” Everyone stiffened. “—that showed up, and he, like, it was creepy how he acted with them, and some of them reached him and—and he was all hostile, and he headed out, and it was like he was looking for something, but that must be you, right?”

Another few moments of silence. “Jesus,” Chase muttered, and stood up, managing to push Jackie away only because he seemed more concerned with…something. “You’re not joking, right?”

“Why the shit would I joke about that?!” Yvonne yelled. “It was freaky as fuck!”

“So when you say ‘green strings,’” Jack said, “do you mean this collection of green, slightly glowing, pieces of thread that crawled across the ground like creepy worms?”

Yvonne blinked. “Yeah, why?”

Jack held up the water bottle and tapped the side. “They showed up here, too. We caught them, but…Jackie reacted weirdly to them.”

“Clearly, these strings are somehow connected to the both of them,” Delyth said.

“Well no shit!” Schneep snapped. “Anti was held together by string, it is probably what is left of him!”

“Okay, look, we can discuss it later,” Yvonne said. “Right now we have to—”

Jameson happened to glance towards the window at just the right time. He stiffened, and threw out a shield. The window burst, glass flying inward. Most of it bounced off Jameson’s shield, which managed to cover Chase, Jack, and Jackie, all sitting close together. Schneep yelped, but was mostly blocked from the shards by Yvonne, who threw up her arms to try to protect herself. Delyth reacted as soon as she heard the sound, conjuring a personal shield of her own out of crystalline purple magic.

Strands of blue light started to crawl inside the broken window. Jackie suddenly snapped to attention and shot to his feet. Chase grabbed him, sure that this couldn’t be a good thing.

The blue light—blue _strings_ —wrapped around Jameson’s shield, twisting along the edges. Jameson took a step back, the magic flickering. Without warning, the strings shot towards him, wrapping around his torso and pinning his arms to his side. The shield died.

“What is this?!” Delyth asked, scrambling to her feet.

“Watch out!” Yvonne shouted.

Something jumped through the broken window, moving too fast to be anything but a blur. Jack was suddenly knocked to the ground, dropping the water bottle, which rolled across the floor. He gasped, partly because the breath was knocked out of him, partly because of the sight before him. It was recognizably Marvin, but…at the same time, too strange. He was wearing a mask that looked rather like his old cat-shaped one…if it was blue instead of white and snapped in half. Behind that mask, his eyes flickered between blue and green, teeth clenched in a snarl. Green stitches crossed a line across his throat.

Jackie shouted something, and pushed Chase away. He only took two steps forward before Chase tackled him to the floor. “Marvin!” Yvonne shouted, and ran over to pull him off Jack. Delyth quickly joined her. While they were doing that, Schneep was by Jameson’s side. Trying to pull at the magic strings proved unsuccessful, so he took out his scissors and cut, managing to slice right through them, though he got very close to Jameson’s skin a couple times.

There was a burst of light, and Yvonne and Delyth got thrown back, covered in blue strings that stuck to the walls. Schneep spun around. “What is happening?!”

Jack sat up, Marvin suddenly gone. He looked around for where he went, and caught sight of him just as he grabbed the water bottle with the strings inside. “Don’t let him grab the bottle!” Jack shouted, lunging forward and landing on Marvin’s back. He managed to startle him enough to make him let go, but as the bottle rolled away, Marvin hissed, and reached for it. Jack grabbed his arm. “Chase, help?!”

“Sorry bro, bit busy!” Chase was dealing with a struggling Jackie, who kept trying to get closer to Marvin and the bottle.

Jameson shook off the last of the magic strings, and flung a disc of magic forward. It rolled across the floor and hit the bottle, knocking it across the room. Marvin and Jackie shouted in identical unison.

Schneep finished cutting Delyth and Yvonne out of the magic strings, and Delyth yelled something in a strange language. The ground quaked, and a purple spike shot out of the ground directly under the water bottle, sending it flying into the air, in a perfect arc right into Delyth’s hands. She wiggled it, as if taunting Marvin and Jackie, then threw it out the window.

Marvin screamed, and disappeared in a flurry of white noise. Jackie’s eyes flashed red, and Chase was thrown backward, staggering, bleeding from a cut that went straight from his shoulder to his navel. Not even looking back, Jackie ran forward and jumped out the window.

“Come on, outside!” Delyth said to the room. “There’ll be more room to maneuver!”

It took a few moments for everyone to get their bearings, but they knew time was of the essence so they hurried. As a group, they all ran out the front door onto the street.

Marvin had picked up the water bottle, and was struggling with the duct tape holding the lid closed. Jackie was standing a few feet in front of him, eyes fixed on his face. After a moment, Marvin seemed to notice, and looked up as well. The two of them were frozen.

Just long enough for Jameson to throw a shield up between them. Jackie stepped back, his surprised expression turning to anger. He cried out, and red light started slicing at the shield. Marvin was smarter, and whirled to look at Jameson. He threw out his hands, and more blue strings shot forward. Chase pushed Jameson out of the way, but got entangled himself. Schneep ran to him, and upon feeling the strings, started cutting at those as well.

“Get the bottle!” Jack shouted, running forward. Marvin turned to him and scowled. More strings burst out of the ground, wrapping around his legs and stopping him in his tracks.

Jameson’s shield flickered and died, and Jackie ran forward, latching onto Marvin’s side. Marvin seemed to relax a bit, his eyes starting to glow a softer green. Jackie’s eyes glowed as well, the exact same color.

“No no no no no.” Yvonne ran forward, stopping right behind Jackie. She pressed her hands to either side of her head. “Dor me sonum,” she whispered, and Jackie’s eyes rolled back in his head. He crumpled to the floor, but then Marvin’s eyes instantly locked on Yvonne. She didn’t even have time to react before she was sent flying backwards, landing heavily on the asphalt of the street, and not moving again.

“Fuck this!” Schneep hissed under his breath, turning towards Marvin. Marvin laughed, static crackling along with the sound, and threw out another wave of strings. But Schneep disappeared. And between one step and the next, he was behind Marvin, grabbing at the bottle he was holding. He managed to wrench it out of his grasp, then stepped backwards and disappeared again.

Delyth turned to Jameson. “Can you keep him busy?” she asked. He looked surprised, but nodded. “Good.” She took a deep breath, and started muttering something.

Jameson stepped forward, throwing a disc of light at Marvin, who seemed stunned at the fact that he was no longer holding the water bottle. He didn’t recover in time to avoid the disc splashing in his face. He gasped, and stumbled back, then immediately glared at Jameson. He raised his hand, and a few more strings curled around his arm and shot outward. Jameson ducked just in time to avoid them, but another few quickly wrapped around his arms, pulling him downward. “Useless f͡a͟͝ke magician,” Marvin hissed. “W̵or͠thle͟s͞s replacement.”

“Leave him alone!” Chase shouted. In one swift motion, he pulled out his gun and BANG!

Marvin staggered backwards, more surprised than hurt. He glared at Chase and reached upward.

Delyth suddenly threw her hands out in front of her, eyes glowing bright purple. A wave of purple light flew out from her in a circle. Once it reached Marvin, pale lavender crystals started to grow out of the ground around his feet. He looked down, but the crystals accelerated, and soon they were covering him up to his armpits. There was only enough time for him to scream out in frustration before he was completely encased.

“We should hurry to get out of here,” Delyth said, not wasting any time. “That spell only lasts an hour at best. Quick, let’s all get in my car.”

“Your what?” Schneep asked.

“Yeah, what?” Chase repeated.

Delyth pointed to the side of the road. A blue car was parked there. “It should be a tight fit, but I think we can all squeeze in. Bring Bell and that…what was his name? Jackie?”

“Hang on!” Schneep had finished cutting Jack free of the strings, and was now standing up straight and glaring in Delyth’s general direction.

“I just pointed to it,” Delyth said, annoyed.

“I am fucking blind!” Schneep snapped. “Was that not obvious?!”

“…oh.” Delyth had the good grace to look embarrassed. “I suppose that would explain some things I noticed. I just thought that…nevermind. My apologies.”

“It’s okay, I’ll get you there,” Jack said to Schneep.

For his part, Schneep looked frustrated. “The first thing I am doing after everything settles down is getting one of those white canes. That way everyone will know and I can find what is around me without asking people.”

 _Where are we going?_ Jameson asked.

“Yeah, where are we going?” Chase repeated. “You’re a magician, are we going to some secret magic place?”

Delyth glanced uneasily at Marvin, still frozen. “I’ll explain on the way there.”

* * *

The car ride was short, which was lucky, since it was also very cramped. Delyth drove and Chase was in the front seat, which left the other three to fill the backseat. It wouldn’t have been a problem if they didn’t also have to fit in Jackie and Yvonne’s unconscious bodies. So they ended up having those two partly on top of them.

True to her word, Delyth explained while she drove. “Marvin clearly means you harm. We need a place with strong wards to protect you from him. And somewhere to keep those…strings safe. To study them, as well as what happened to your friend Jackie. I know a place that fits all those qualifications, near the center of town.”

After a while, Delyth parked in front of what looked like an old bookstore. The sign had fallen off and the windows were dusty, but through the clouded glass you could see lines of shelves and empty displays. They all piled out of the car, watching Delyth as she ran her hand along the edge of the building’s front door frame. It lit up with purple light, which faded to white before disappearing entirely. And without an explanation, she opened the door and stepped inside. Confused, the others quickly followed, with Chase and Jack carrying Yvonne and Jackie.

The interior wasn’t at all what it looked like it would be from the outside. In fact, it looked more like a hotel lobby than anything, decorated in white and gold colors. “Wait, what?!” Chase blinked in surprise.

 _We stepped into a TARDIS,_ JJ said succinctly.

“Fancy,” Jack commented. “Looks like the entrance to a hotel or something.” This last statement was probably for Schneep, clinging to his arm.

“This is an ABIM Sanctuary,” Delyth explained. She walked over to a desk with a computer and started typing something in. “It’s for any Magi agents or employed wizards to stay while in town.”

“I…cannot take the phrase ‘employed wizards’ seriously,” Chase said.

Delyth huffed. “‘Wizard’ just means they study magic. It’s an actual term with a long history—you know what, I can explain later. Or maybe Bell can, when she wakes up. We should probably get one of the healers here to look at her, make sure the damage from that blow wasn’t too severe.”

“What about Jackie?” Jack asked.

“It looked like Bell hit him with a sleep spell,” Delyth said. “He should wake up any minute now.” She backed away from the computer. “There. I’ve checked you all in, as my guests, now I’ll show you to your assigned rooms.” And she headed towards a set of elevator doors in the back of the room.

 _You said we needed strong wards,_ JJ asked. _Does that mean Marvin can’t find us here? And what about these strings? You said we could study them._ Jack translated the signs for Delyth.

“Yes, the wards here are very strong,” Delyth said, pressing the Up button next to the lift. “Tracking spells shouldn’t be able to break through them. And we’ll have to talk to some of the wizards here about the strings, I’m sure they can help. If not, I’ll call in for backup. Now come on.” The elevator doors _dinged_ open.

Surprisingly, there were seven floors to the building, which had been just a single story from the outside. Delyth led them to the third floor and down a series of corridors, all lined with doors, until they reached one labelled 314. “I have two extra rooms, they all have two beds and a sleeper sofa. Bell can stay with me. You five can work out who stays in 312 and 313. Don’t worry, the doors aren’t locked to any of us; I put your names on the registry.”

“Uh…I’m gonna assume that’s some type of magic and say ‘thanks,’” Chase said. “Uh…well, if Jackie’s gonna wake up, I think I should stay with him? I-I don’t know, he might get upset if I don’t.”

“Okay, yes, but Jackie also became…aggressive,” Schneep said. “Are you sure about this?”

“Yeah…” Chase said, sighing.

 _I can stay with you, Chase,_ JJ offered. _That way, if Jackie does try to attack, I can protect you._

“Oh.” Chase blinked. “Um…thanks.”

“So it’s you three, then me and Schneep,” Jack summarized. “I guess we’ll take 312 then.”

“Excellent,” Delyth said. “Now can you please hand me Miss Bell so I can take her inside?”

“Oh yeah, sure.” Jack handed her off to Delyth in an awkward transition, and Delyth quickly went inside her room. “I guess we should just…check out our rooms, then.”

They all dispersed. Chase was mildly surprised when the door to room 313 opened without resistance; that didn’t seem very secure, but then again, it could be magic. He flipped on the lights, revealing what looked like a hotel suite, with a living room and kitchenette in view, two open doors showing the bathroom and bedroom. There were a pair of thick curtains on the opposite wall, no doubt hiding a window. Like the lobby downstairs, the room was mostly decorated in white with hints of gold. Chase walked over to the sofa and set Jackie down, breathing out slowly. He turned back to JJ, who was looking through the kitchenette’s cabinets. “I, uh…don’t know if they have food, bro.”

 _Well, it can’t hurt to look,_ JJ said.

“Haha, yeah…” Chase trailed off. He shifted awkwardly. “Hey can I uh…talk to you about something?”

Jameson stopped his investigation, and looked over at Chase curiously. He nodded.

“So, uh…about that…comment I made,” Chase said. “It was, like, a couple days ago. About you not having friends before we met you. I, uh, know I sorta apologized but it was really awkward, and…just, are you still mad about that? You probably are.”

 _It did sting, to say the least,_ JJ said. His expression was hard to read, but that might have been because he still had the scarf covering the lower half of his face.

Chase winced. “Yeah…look, I really didn’t mean it. I said it in the heat of the moment, I was frustrated about…just stuff, I guess. It was horrible and I’m really sorry, I…”

 _Chase, it’s okay, I’ve forgiven you,_ JJ interrupted.

“R-really?” Chase breathed.

 _Like you said, it was in the heat of the moment,_ JJ said. Y _ou were upset about the possibility of never seeing Jackie or Marvin again. And, well…you’re not technically wrong. I wasn’t too good at getting to know people. I’m still not, really._

“Yeah, but that didn’t mean I had to say it,” Chase said. “Really, I’m so, so sorry, a-and I really appreciate that you’re staying with me to protect me even though I said it—”

 _Of course I am, we’re still friends, right?_ JJ asked.

“Yeah, of course.”

 _One fight isn’t going to change that._ JJ’s eyes crinkled like he was smiling under the scarf.

Chase chuckled. “Well, yeah. I’ve fought all the time with Schneep and Jack, and we still hang out.” He sighed. “It was still just…a bad thing to say.”

 _It’s water under the bridge,_ JJ assured him. 

After a moment, Chase reached forward and grabbed JJ’s hand, squeezing it. “Thanks.”

There was the sound of rustling fabric, and a groan. Chase and Jameson looked around, and saw Jackie sitting up. He seemed confused as he glanced around. The confusion soon gave way to some sort of frantic panicking. “Where am I? Where am I?!”

“Whoa, hey, Jackie, it’s fine.” Chase ran on over. “You’re in a safe place, okay? It’s fine.”

“But where am _I?!_ ” Jackie insisted, scrambling to his feet. “Where is the rest of me?! We were here, all of me, and now not anymore. Where is the other me?!”

Chase felt his heart sinking. “It’s fine,” he repeated. “We’ll…figure it out.”

Jackie’s eyes locked onto him. “Chase! Do you know where I am?”

“Uh…no, but we’ll figure it out.” He didn’t have much else to say.

“Figure it out, out, out,” Jackie muttered. He started walking around the perimeter of the room. Aimlessly, automatically, like he was just looking for something to do. “We’ll find me, we’ll find me.”

“Um…yeah.” Chase glanced at JJ, who gave him an uneasy look in return. “For now, let’s just…relax. It’s been a long day, and it’s only noon.”

 _Sounds good,_ JJ said, and turned back to the cabinets, looking through them again.

Chase collapsed on the sofa, and watched as Jackie continued to walk, walk, walk. Hopefully these magic people could figure out what to do about him And those strings. True, Delyth had said that nothing like this had ever happened before, but he believed there was a solution. One that would save everyone. And he did mean everyone.

He had to keep believing that. He wasn’t sure what would happen if he stopped believing.


	21. Two of Souls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group has settled into a routine in the Sanctuary, but things are still tense. They soon find out more about what exactly the strings are and why Jackie and Marvin are acting so strange, but it's not exactly encouraging.

With a small _ding!_ the doors to the elevator opened, and Jack stepped out onto the ground floor. He looked left, then right, then down at the note in his hand. ‘ _Investigating Storage Room 1, first floor, 3:00. On the right side, look for nameplate.’_

They’d been in the Sanctuary for almost two weeks now. There had been no sign of trouble, but none of them had dared leave the building anyway. The result was a mixture of stress and boredom. But yesterday, something finally happened. Yvonne met with them and said that the magicians had finally gotten around to analyzing the strings. After some talking, Jack had volunteered to meet up with the magicians and relay the information back to the others. Of course, now that he was here he was feeling somewhat nervous, but he pushed that aside.

Folding the note and putting it in his pocket, Jack turned right and soon found the door they had directed him to, identifiable by a nameplate on the wall nearby. At a glance, it didn’t look too different from any other door in the Sanctuary. It didn’t have any of the numbers that the hotel-like rooms did, but then again, not all of them did. He wouldn’t have paid any attention to it at all, which might’ve been the point.

After a couple seconds, the door opened, revealing Delyth standing there. “Oh good, you’re here,” she said. “You’re early.”

Jack laughed nervously. “Well, I wanted to make sure, y’know? Is being early a problem?”

“No, not at all. Please, come inside.” Delyth stepped away so that Jack could walk into the room, closing the door behind him as soon as he had.

Contrary to its door, the room beyond was _much_ stranger than the rest of the Sanctuary. It was dimly lit, with only a few lamps dangling from the ceiling casting concentrated beams of yellow light onto the floor. Not that there was much floor space at all. The room was filled with boxes. Neatly stacked, bigger ones on the bottom, all made out of metal with a coppery sheen. Each box had a label and what looked like a colorful warning symbol, like the sort that was put onto hazardous materials. Jack couldn’t remember if the symbol had a specific name, but he remembered it was a diamond made of four colors. These symbols were similar, except they were circular, divided into four colorful sections with another circle in the center.

In the middle of the room was a table. Delyth was quick to guide Jack over towards it. Yvonne was already there, as well as an older man with dark hair and a beard, both of which looked like they’d been hit by lightning. The man was wearing a coat that was decorated like a labcoat, but dark blue and with a symbol of a four-pointed star on the lapel. Oh the table was one of the coppery boxes, about the size and shape of a shoebox, and a strange device with several large lenses attached.

“Jack, this is Mr. Griffin, he’s one of the wizards studying at this Sanctuary,” Delyth explained.

“Pleasure to meet you, young man,” the older man said in a precise British accent.

Jack couldn’t help but stare. “Uh, yeah, the pleasure’s all mine. You…you’re a wizard, then?”

“I’m not what you were expecting, I understand,” Griffin laughed. “It’s alright, I get that reaction a lot, I’m very used to it.”

Jack laughed a bit as well. “Well, as long as I’m not the first.” He sighed, then returned to the seriousness of the moment. “Anyway, what’ve you found?”

“Well, I’ve examined these strings—”

“We’ve examined them,” Yvonne interrupted. “I helped, don’t forget.”

“Yes, Bell has been very helpful,” Delyth said, sounding as though she’d rather not admit it. “Her knowledge as a soul magician is valuable.”

Yvonne puffed herself up proudly.

“Anyway, we’ve examined them,” Griffin continued. He tapped the side of the box, and Jack leaned forward to look at it. The box actually had a lid, though he hadn’t noticed it since it was made of glass, giving a clear look into the inside of the box. The strings tangled about, writhing like worms and slamming against the sides. “These are not actually physical strings.”

“They’re not physical?” Jack asked, confusion obvious. “But…they can, like, touch things. Interact with them.”

“That’s true, but they’re not made of actual matter,” Griffin explained. “You see, magic can become solid, if concentrated enough. So they’re more like energy than anything else.”

“I…but…isn’t there a thing about how you can’t touch energy? Isn’t that what e=mc2 is all about? Something like that?”

“Magic follows its own rules,” Delyth said. “Just accept that if you take enough magic together, it can become a tangible thing.”

Jack nodded slowly. He figured it was best not to think about this too much. “Okay. So they’re just magic?”

“They’re more than just magic, actually,” Griffin said, suddenly grave. “They’re very dark magic.”

Delyth nodded. “From what we’ve figured out, the strings were most likely caused by a black magic spell backfiring. _Terribly_ backfiring.” She sighed. “That’s the cost of dark magic. It may seem easy, but when it goes wrong, it goes wrong in a big way. Not to mention the effect it’ll have on a magician’s mind and soul.”

“A spell backfiring…” Jack muttered. “We…thought that Marvin and Jackie cast a spell. And we thought that it went wrong, too.” He paused. “Transference.”

“It’s all my fault!” Yvonne suddenly blurted out. She slammed her hands on the table, looking pale. “That book was in my shop. Marvin saw it, he wanted to borrow it, and I-I didn’t think anything of it! When he gave it back, it looked fine, but he could’ve easily copied—”

“Bell!” Delyth looked shocked. “You had a book with a transference spell in your shop?”

“Yeah,” Yvonne mumbled. “I thought it would sell for a lot. I never would’ve dreamed it could lead to all…all this. If I knew, I never would’ve stocked it.”

“You shouldn’t have been selling a book with that spell in the first place!” Delyth scolded. “Think of all the harm it could do!”

“Well, it’s not really my fault if someone wants to buy it, is it, Mae?” Yvonne said angrily. “If someone showed up looking for a book like that, then they knew exactly what they were doing. There are warnings with each spell and they’re very descriptive, if anything happened, it was on them!” She stopped, then slowly deflated. “At least, that’s what I thought at the time. If I knew…if I knew…”

“There’s never just one person responsible for a spell backfiring,” Griffin said. “Nor the consequences of it. Your Marvin friend shouldn’t have used the spell in the first place.”

Yvonne took a deep, shaky breath. “A-anyway, that’s what the strings are probably from. That spell going tops-up.”

Jack was silent for a moment, watching the strings in the box as they wriggled. “But…okay, if they’re just magic, that’s fine. But why are they moving? Why do they…it seems like they always make a beeline for Jackie and Marvin, why is that?”

“Ah. Well…” Griffin paused, stroking his beard. “This is where Ms. Bell comes into play.”

“Right.” Yvonne straightened her shoulders, collecting herself. “Jack, this—” She patted the device with the lenses “—is one of the many tools we use in soul magic. We, uh, don’t really know what souls are, to be honest. But we know that with this, we can at least see them. It helps us visualize souls into something more…tangible.” She slid two of the lenses into place and angled them so that Jack could look through them at the strings. “Go on, have a peek.”

Jack hesitated, then leaned over. He gasped. His view of the strings had suddenly been magnified by a thousand percent. He could see that the glowing strings were actually woven together of smaller threads, which appeared translucent when looked at individually. Caught in the woven threads, too small for anyone to see with the naked eye, were tiny, broken lights. Blue and red. They couldn’t have been bigger than dust motes, and there weren’t that many of them, but they shined with light.

“This is…kinda fucked up, honestly,” Yvonne said. “The bits of light you’re now seeing are actually bits of…soul.”

“Holy fuck…” Jack had to take a step back.

“I used a similar device to look at Marvin when he was at my flat,” Yvonne explained. “And his soul looked…broken. My only thought is that when he and Jackie performed the transference, both their souls were broken. And bits of them got mixed in with these strings, which must be the magic cast by the transference. It probably had nowhere to go, so it solidified.”

“That…that must be the case,” Jack breathed. “I mean, they’re even the same colors.”

Silence.

Jack, noticing the sudden quiet, looked around. All the magicians were staring at him with wide eyes. “What?”

“What do you mean…colors?” Delyth asked.

“The, uh, the lights are red and blue. Just like Marvin and Jackie’s souls,” Jack explained.

“Wh—” Yvonne choked.

“You can…can you see souls?” Griffin asked.

“Oh. Uh, yeah.” Jack tapped the area below his left eye. “Only with this eye, though. JJ and I think that when he used his magic to replace the one I lost, it kind of overcompensated.”

“And…these souls have colors?” Griffin asked again, looking very interested in this.

“Yeah. Of course.” Jack looked back and forth at the others. “Are they…not supposed to?”

“Even with the Lens, all souls appear colorless,” Yvonne said in a hushed tone. “Even to soul magicians like me. They’re all…white light.”

“Oh. I guess…I’m special, then? Because they definitely have color to me.” Jack closed his right eye. “Yeah, I can see all yours now. Delyth’s is purple like her magic, Yvonne’s is blue with a bit of purple, Mr. Griffin’s is bright, and I mean _bright_ , yellow, and mine is green. Huh. Also all yours are kinda…sparkly? Mine isn’t. Yours kinda looks like how JJ’s is, but different.”

“Wait, can you see—are you maybe seeing our magic?” Griffin gasped. “That’s incredible!”

“Uh, thanks, I guess. I had no say in it.” Jack opened his eye and laughed. “It’s a bit ironic that I can see all these colors and you guys can’t, I’m actually slightly colorblind.”

“Okay, but the soul bits in the strings match Marvin’s and Jackie’s,” Yvonne hurried to say. “The colors here are the same as the colors of their souls?”

“Yeah.”

“That confirms it, then,” Delyth nodded. “The strings are attracted to them due to having parts of them inside. They want to be reunited.”

“I wouldn’t say that’s a bad thing in principle,” Yvonne said slowly. “Except for the fact that Marvin got a lot more angry and attack-y once some of those strings got together with him.”

“I suspect that’s the black magic,” Griffin said.

“Okay, but is there any way to get rid of them?” Jack asked, a desperate note in his voice. “These fucking strings are causing all sorts of trouble.”

“Hmm.” Griffin furrowed his brow and looked up at the ceiling. “I know we looked into that, but I think I left the notes in the other room.” He reached down and tapped the top of the box. It turned an opaque, coppery color, the same as all the rest. “I could go get them now, if you’d like.”

“Nah, that’s fine, I could go get them if you want.” Jack took a few steps back. 

“Oh. Well, if you’re offering, then that would be great, thank you,” Griffin nodded. “They should be next door, in the Investigative Room. I doubt I left them in a drawer or anywhere, so they’re probably out on a surface.”

“Alright.” Jack turned around. “I’ll see you later, then.” He hurried to leave. Those strings…he wasn’t eager to spend much more time with them.

* * *

There was a wide open area in the basement of the Sanctuary. At first glance, it looked like a gymnasium, except without the bleachers and basketball hoops. It was also much bigger, with a small climbing wall at one end, an archery shooting range at the other, and a wall in between lined with strange perforations. Delyth explained it was made for agents who wanted to practice spells in their spare time. However, it had sat empty for the entire time they’d been here. But that was fine. Schneep actually preferred it empty.

He pushed open the doors to the room, automatically tensing, searching for anyone. He didn’t think anyone was there. Or at the very least, that strange sixth sense that let him know when people were around was telling him the room was empty as always. He sighed, relaxing, and walked into the approximate center of the room.

Now that things were relatively peaceful—well, actually, that was a stretch, it was better phrased as “now that there was no one actively trying to kill them”—he’d thought it would be best to practice this magic of his. Strange, how things had changed to the point where he readily accepted his new magical abilities, when just a few years ago he would’ve denied it to the ends of the earth. Schneep laughed to himself. Well, time flies.

He started this practice by summoning and vanishing his scissors a couple times. It was still unclear where they came from and went off to when he wasn’t using them. All he knew was that if he reached to the side he could feel their handles, seemingly hovering in midair right where he needed them. Perhaps the scissors were stored in some sort of pocket dimension that only he could access. 

What was interesting was that other things could come from this pocket dimension. Shortly after arriving at the Sanctuary and getting frustrated with the unfamiliar layout, Schneep had wished for something that could help him know where things were. He’d reached out, and suddenly found something there. A long, thin stick, that could extend in length. Bringing it to Jack confirmed his suspicions: it was a cane. Exactly what he’d needed. Unusual, he thought, that he’d found it at the exact moment he was thinking about it. Perhaps the pocket dimension could provide what he wanted? But it didn’t provide anything other than the scissors and the cane so far. Well, he was still working on that theory.

Second matter of business. Simple jumps, to get him warmed up. That was what he decided to call this teleporting or whatever it was. The act of walking somewhere and having the world around him change, so he was somewhere else entirely. It was sort of like portals, except Schneep didn’t need a fancy gun to jump, he just did it at will.

He jumped back and forth across the width of the room a couple times, touching the wall to orient himself. Then across the length. Then from corner to corner. He never really got tired from the jumping. And last practice, he realized it didn’t even need to be on solid ground. Though that had been an accident, and he’d ended up landing flat on his face. Moments like that were why he practiced alone.

Schneep paused for a moment, reaching out to feel the base of the climbing wall. Perhaps…? Bracing himself, he took a step forward, and ended up not on the floor, but falling through the air. Fear instantly shot through him, and he waved his arms wildly until his hands brushed against something. That texture—! He tried to grab, and—

“ _Ow!_ ” Schneep gasped. His arm felt like it was being yanked out of its socket. His fall was suddenly stopped when he managed to find one of the climbing wall’s holds, but the sudden change of speed had caused a shot of pure pain through his shoulder. God, he hoped that wasn’t dislocated.

Kicking his legs a bit, he managed to jump back down to the floor, where he immediately started rubbing his shoulder. He’d been aiming for the flat bit at the top of the climbing wall, but it appeared he missed. Luckily he was close enough to find that hold, otherwise he’d have to deal with falling all the way to the floor. Even though the climbing wall was half the size of most, it was still twenty feet tall.

Schneep didn’t allow himself to pause. He wanted to try one more thing before stopping for the day. Walking over to the side, he found the perforated wall of the gym area, and walked along it until he found a control panel. There was a touchscreen on it, which wasn’t much use to him, but there was also a button and a dial. He’d asked Delyth about it earlier, and she explained the button was to start or stop the “course” and the dial was to time it, with the maximum being thirty minutes. Twisting the dial, he set it to about five minutes, then hit the button.

“Projectile training course set for: four minutes.” An automated voice rang out through the gym area. “There is: one minute before start time.”

“Alright, here we go.” Schneep took a deep breath, and jumped back to the middle of the room, tensing with anxiety. He’d have to be careful here.

“Thirty seconds remaining before the projectile course fires,” said the automated voice. Then after a while. “Ten seconds remaining. Nine. Eight.”

Schneep bounced on his feet, ready to move at any moment.

“Seven. Six. Five. Four. Three.”

There was a slight humming sound coming from the wall. He braced himself.

“Two. One. Firing.”

The darts of magic started to fire, each hole making a _chnk!_ sound as they shot and the darts themselves causing a _whhst!_ sound as they passed through the air. Schneep started moving, listening carefully for the noise of each one firing and flying forward. He started running, then skidded to a halt as there was a _chnk!_ from a space near him. The dart whizzed past his face in a gust of air. He ducked just in time to avoid another, then turned around and jumped to what sounded like a safe spot.

Four minutes was not a very long time, but it certainly felt that way as Schneep dodged, ducked, and jumped across the room. He tried not to think too much, just listen and notice the small signs of the nearby darts. Eventually he got into a rhythm, jumping whenever he heard several _chnk!_ s in the area around him.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. Soon, one of the darts hit him in the leg and broke his concentration. “Ah!” He instinctively leaned down to clutch at the spot, but that just brought him right into the path of another _whhst!_ “Fick!” And everything broke down from there as a quick barrage of about a dozen darts soon knocked him to the ground. He jumped to another area, only to get knocked right in the chest the moment he arrived and knocked down once again.

“Projectile course finished,” the automated voice said. “Thank you for participating.” A loud beep signaled the end of the course.

Schneep sighed. He wasn’t sure what those darts were, other than pure magic, but he knew that they hurt. It reminded him of the time Chase had dragged him to a paintball match, and he was sure that there would be similar bruises left over. Wincing, he climbed to his feet. “Need more practice on that,” he said to himself.

Well, there was always tomorrow. He turned and headed for the nearest wall, following it to the exit.

* * *

“Chase. Chase. Chase. Chase. Chase.”

Ignoring the repeated, nagging sound of his own name, Chase rolled over and pulled the blanket over his face. What time was it? Probably sometime in the afternoon, judging by the light coming in from the bedroom window. Also, who opened the window? The curtains at the Sanctuary were pretty good for blocking out light, they must be open if he could see light even behind his eyelids. Good thing this bed had thick blankets, too.

“Chase. Chase. Chase.” Now something was poking him with every repetition. It soon became something shaking him. “Chase. _Chase._ ”

Finally realizing he wasn’t going to stop, Chase groaned and pushed away the covers. He opened his eyes and looked over to see Jackie standing by the side of the bed. Staring at him. Was he…was he there the whole night? Because apparently he didn’t sleep anymore—or at least, not as much, and not when Chase or JJ were watching. The thought was…disturbing. “What is it, Jackie?” he asked, sighing.

Jackie didn’t answer for a while, just blinked. It was a solid thirty seconds before he asked, “When are we leaving?”

Chase had been about to go back to sleep, but that question sent a shot of nerves through his heart that woke him right up. “Um…I don’t know. Wh-why? Do you want to go somewhere?”

“I need to find the rest of us,” Jackie said insistently. “I know I’m out there, but I can’t tell where.”

“…right.” Chase sat up. “Well, uh…I mean, is this really that importa—”

“Yes.”

Chase fell silent. There were moments when Jackie just acted a bit unusual, but there were also too many moments like this, moments that left him with a crawling feeling across his skin, and he could see how Jackie was once part of Anti. “Um…okay.” Chase inched away. “Well, I don’t know when we’re leaving, so don’t ask me.”

Jackie looked disappointed, but wandered away to look out the window. Chase paused, then glanced at the clock on the wall. 3:00 on the dot. He sighed. It was pretty late, but given how he hadn’t gone to bed until six in the morning last night and had trouble getting to sleep once he did, he wanted to pull the covers up and try to get another hour or two. But he was also pretty hungry, so he should get some food while he had the energy to. So he climbed out of bed and left the room.

The magicians had been providing them with groceries when they asked, as well as anything else they needed. Chase left the bedroom, waving a hello to JJ sitting on the living area’s sofa, and headed straight for the kitchenette. He opened one of the cupboards and took out a box of cereal. The brand was unfamiliar, something generic and probably store-brand, but the bits of cereal were coated in sugar and that’s what mattered. He took out a bowl and spoon and poured.

“You should take a shower.”

Chase yelped, spilling some of the cereal, and looked up to see Jackie had followed him and was now standing in the middle of the living room and watching him. “Jesus, don’t do that,” Chase breathed, setting down the cereal box.

“I don’t think you’ve used the shower since we’ve been here,” Jackie continued. “That’s not good.”

“Uhh…” Chase leaned to the side so he could see JJ around Jackie.

JJ set down his book—something that Yvonne had given him a few days ago—and said, _Well he’s not wrong. But anyway, can you handle this right now?_

Chase nodded slowly, then leaned back into place and looked at Jackie. “I think I’m fine, Jackie. It’s not like I smell or anything. Uh…right?”

“You lie in bed a lot,” Jackie said bluntly. “Has that always been a thing with you? I think it has, for some time. I remember that. You should at least move to somewhere else. Actually use the other rooms.”

And then sometimes there were these moments. Moments where Jackie seemed almost normal, talking in the same way and giving the same advice he did years ago, before that black magic spell had killed him and created Anti. Honestly, these moments made the whole situation creepier. Chase took a moment to respond. “Well…maybe I _will_ take a shower, then.”

“That’s a start.” Jackie’s eyes slowly drifted to the side, and then he turned away, walking around the room in an aimless manner.

JJ waved in Chase’s direction for his attention. _You alright?_

Chase let out a breath, and nodded. _Yeah, I’m fine._ He responded in sign. They’d learned from experience over the last two weeks that Jackie would butt in on the conversation if Chase started talking out loud.

Jameson raised an eyebrow. His expression was hard to read under his new mask—this one was black, and had also been provided by the magicians once he’d asked for one—but if Chase had to guess, it was probably concerned. _I was thinking maybe if we switched places, he might give you a break._

_You mean if you pretended to be me? I’m pretty sure he’d be able to tell. We have some very obvious identifying features._

JJ huffed. _I suppose you’re right. And we can’t get Jack or Henrik to do that, since the same can be said for them. Maybe if Henrik covered up his scars?_

 _I get the feeling he’d be able to tell anyway._ Chase sighed, and headed for the fridge, grabbing the milk. He was turning back around when he noticed it. Jackie had suddenly stopped walking and was now standing, shoulders tensed, in the middle of the room. “Um…Jackie? Are you alright?”

Jackie didn’t respond. Instead, he turned on his heel and walked right to the door, opening it and leaving the room.

“Wh—Jackie!” Chase put the milk down on the nearest counter, JJ stood up, and the two of them quickly followed him into the hallway.

Jackie had taken a turn to the left, moving quickly and purposefully towards the stairs at the end of the hall. “Hey! Jackie!” Chase and JJ broke into a run. Jackie glanced over his shoulder, then started sprinting as well, reaching the stairwell in no time.

“Stop!” Chase paused in the entrance to the stairwell, watching as Jackie ran down the stairs two at a time. “Where the hell are you going?!”

JJ pulled up next to him. _Should I stop him?_ He flicked his fingers, making a blue disc of magic appear.

Chase shook his head. “No, let’s follow him first.” And they started running again.

Jackie headed down all three flights of stairs to the ground floor, pausing for a moment as if getting his bearings before taking the right hallway. “Wh…what?” Chase panted. That hallway would only lead deeper into the Sanctuary. What could he possibly want down here? He glanced over at JJ, who looked just as confused.

From farther down the hall, they heard a “What the—” and then someone screamed.

Jameson’s eyes widened. _Isn’t that—_

Chase immediately broke into a dead sprint.

Farther down the hall, a door was swinging wildly, and someone was lying on the floor as if they’d been knocked over. A few loose papers were scattered around. Chase gasped. “Jack!” He hurried to his friend’s side and helped him stand up. “Are you okay?!”

“Fine,” Jack said shortly, rubbing his arm. “Was that—was Jackie just here?”

“Yeah, ran all the way down here,” Chase said. “What were you doing here?”

“It was that thing, that thing about the, uh, strings,” Jack explained.

Jameson, having just caught up in time to hear that statement, looked shocked. He whirled towards the swinging door and grabbed hold of it, rushing inside.

“Did he go in there?” Chase asked, also pointing at the door.

“Uh, I think so?” Jack gasped slightly. “But that’s where—”

A loud clattering sound came from inside. Jack and Chase glanced at each other, then ducked into the room.

Inside, Jackie was struggling with the three magicians already inside. Yvonne had her arms wrapped around his, while Delyth’s eyes were lit up purple and her hands held out in a defensive position. Griffin clutched the copper box with the strings inside, holding it protectively while JJ covered him with a shield. A stack of other boxes had been knocked over and were now strewn across the floor.

“What’s going—Jackie, stop!” Chase stepped in front of Jack. “You’ll hurt them!”

“I d̛on’t ̛ca̛re,” Jackie hissed. “Give me back!”

“You two get out of here!” Delyth said to Jack and Chase. “This could get messy.”

“No—” Jack started to protest.

There was a flash of red light, and Yvonne suddenly cried out. She stumbled backward, now bleeding from a cut that had appeared across the left side of her face. With his arms free, Jackie lunged towards Jameson and Griffin, eyes fixed on the box. Jameson threw his hands forward, and the shield expanded outward, pushing Jackie to the ground. He hissed again and made a sharp gesture. A slice of red light cut through the air and right through Jameson’s shield, making it flicker and die. Jackie started forward again, only for Delyth to block him with a crystalline shield of her own.

“Fuck this!” Yvonne wiped the blood out of her eye and lunged right at Jackie, managing to grab him again. He shrieked, the sound full of rage, and more red light flashed. Yvonne suddenly dropped again. She clutched her leg, which was now bleeding.

“I said for you to get out!” Delyth snarled. “This is danger—”

There was a sudden, almost inaudible _snap!_ sound, and then there was another person in the room. Schneep appeared directly behind Jackie, hitting him hard on the back of his head with the butt of a cane. Jackie crumpled to the floor, clearly breathing but now unconscious. Schneep let out a long breath. “Please say that was the correct thing to do,” he muttered.

“Hen! That was—where’d you come from?” Jack gasped.

“I was passing by,” he explained. “On the way to the elevator back to the rooms, which may I say, very inconvenient to have an elevator just to get to the basement, but it worked out this time. I could tell there was a fight, so I decided to step in.”

“Wait, how’d you know to hit Jackie?” Delyth asked, lowering her shield. “I thought you were blind.”

“I am. Do you not see this?” Schneep waved the cane in her general direction. “But it seems part of my magic is knowing where people are. And who they are, too. Which is very lucky.”

Jameson clapped his hands for attention. _May I suggest we continue this conversation after getting this young lady some medical care?_

“Yes, great suggestion,” Yvonne said. “I am bleeding quite significantly.” Her tone said it was a joke but her face betrayed her real worry.

Delyth sighed. “Yes, of course. There’s a small clinic with supplies further down the hall. We’ll finish this up in there.”

* * *

It didn’t take too long for them all to relocate to the clinic and get Yvonne taken care of. They also took Jackie there as well, setting him down on one of the clinic’s three beds. Once Yvonne’s wounds were wrapped up, everyone immediately returned to the matter at hand. Chase and JJ explained how Jackie had suddenly left the room and ran downstairs, and Jack told the others the information about the strings he’d found out just before Jackie appeared.

“Did he somehow sense the strings, perhaps?” Schneep speculated. “But then why hadn’t he reacted before? They’ve been here the whole time.”

“That may be my fault,” Griffin admitted. “The crates we keep magical artifacts in are designed to keep any magical signals from escaping, but if we need to look at them, the spell to make the crates transparent allows a small bit to get out.” He shook his head slowly. “I’ll have to add that warning to their container.”

“They weren’t even visible for that long,” Yvonne muttered. “And it sounds like Jackie realized they were here after barely a minute. Well, what d’you expect, when they’re part of his soul?”

“Can we talk about these soul strings in more detail?” Chase asked. “Like, for example…how do we get rid of them?”

“Oh, I-I still have those notes I was supposed to get.” Jack reached into his hoodie pocket and took out some crumpled pieces of paper. “Sorry, I kinda…dropped them when Jackie pushed me away, then didn’t really pay too much attention when I picked them up.”

“It’s fine, just hand them over.” Griffin held out his hand, and Jack passed over the papers. He began uncrumpling them.

 _What do you think will happen to the parts of their souls that are stuck inside the strings?_ JJ asked, his expression drawn and worried. _Will they disappear? Would that hurt?_ Jack translated for the part of the room that didn’t understand sign.

“That’s a…very good question,” Delyth said. “Bell?”

“Don’t ask me, Mae, this has never happened before!” Yvonne said defensively. “Maybe we could ask the guy with deus ex soul vision.”

Jack hesitated. “Maybe…the bits will just go back to the full person?” he suggested tentatively “I mean, it’s hard to know which ones belong to who, since whenever I look at Marvin and Jackie their colors are all mixed up—”

Yvonne’s head shot up. “Wait, does that mean their souls are mixed up?!” she shrieked.

“Well, I think…” Jack trailed off. “I…hadn’t thought of…”

Silence fell in the room, only broken by the occasional ruffle of paper as Griffin continued to smooth them out. “Well, I…suppose that makes…sense,” Schneep said haltingly. “Jackie has…abilities now. Magic. He never had them before. If magic is in the soul, perhaps having bits of Marvin gave him…some of that?”

“But is there a way to undo it, then?” Chase asked with more than a hint of desperation in his voice. “Is there a way to make them better?”

More silence. Everyone looked at Yvonne, the only soul magician, but she had nothing to offer, so she looked over at Griffin. Awkwardly, he cleared his throat. “Well…I’m sorry, but I don’t think so,” he said as gently as possible.

Chase’s expression visibly fell. Jameson, standing nearby, reached over, offering his hand. After a moment, Chase breathed in deeply, and took the hand. “Right. I guess…that was stupid to think.”

“It wasn’t stupid,” Jack said gently. “It was hopeful, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“But there may be a way to improve this situation a bit,” Delyth suddenly said. “The strings…they’re black magic, and I don’t doubt that’s affecting your friends. If we get rid of them, perhaps we could stop them from being so oddly hostile…and prevent this Anti from ever returning.”

Chase looked up, and slowly nodded. “Okay then. How do we do that?”

“It would need to be strong magic,” Griffin said, looking over his notes. “But it’s not impossible. We may be able to burn them with an intense blaze, freeze the spell inside, or take them apart until they cease to function…either way, I don’t think just one magician will have enough power for that on their own.”

“Okay, so we next work on figuring that out,” Schneep stated. “How? If you need help, I will offer.”

 _I will as well,_ JJ added.

“We’d need to try,” Griffin muttered. “Just…try many different things. That’s the only way I can see forward.”

“The old trial and error,” Yvonne said. “Well…I’ll help too, if you need it.”

Chase let out a long, long sigh. “I…I’m done for the day. This was a lot for just a few minutes, and I just woke up.”

“Oh yes, by all means, all of you return to what you were doing,” Delyth said. “We’ll come tell you if we need anything, and remember you can ask us for anything as well.”

And slowly, they dispersed. Chase and JJ took Jackie back up to their room, while Jack and Schneep returned to theirs. Yvonne remained in the clinic for a while longer before retreating to her room, too. Nobody said anything as they left.

There was no way to reverse this. The fact was slowly sinking in to all of them. Whatever Jackie and Marvin had done, it could not be undone.

Yet maybe, just maybe, they could salvage something from this.

Just maybe.


End file.
